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Tsunami exercises run in 27 nations around Indian Ocean

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-14 23:56

KUALA LUMPUR - Twenty seven nations around the Indian Ocean simultaneously staged tsunami exercises on Wednesday to help their residents practice self-protecting skills, local reports said.

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The exercises were the first held simultaneously in 27 countries in the vicinity of the Indian Ocean, Malaysian national news service Bernama said.

In Malaysia, the tsunami "alerts" were issued from Putrajaya, the administrative center of Malaysia, to Langkawi, a resort island in northern Malaysia, following "warnings" from tsunami watch centers in Hawaii, the United States, and Tokyo, Japan.

The tsunami warning was sounded at 9.30 this morning, and the 1, 270 residents, who were not told that it was merely an exercise, had thought the tsunami was genuine, Bernama said.

The exercise was a success because the relevant authorities from the police, and the civil defense, social welfare and information departments managed to communicate and coordinate the task well, it added.