Mexico launches national tsunami warning system

Graphic showing how a tsunami warning system works. AFP FILE PHOTO

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government on Tuesday launched a national tsunami system to monitor quakes around the world that could impact the country’s coastline, the Interior Ministry said.

The system’s aim will be to “monitor and alert the occurrence of tsunamis generated anywhere in the world that could affect national territory,” the ministry said in a statement.

The system will bring together data from the ministries of the Interior, Navy, Communications, and Transport, as well as university bodies and research centers that already monitor quake activities, officials said.

There have been no large scale tsunamis affecting Mexico in decades, but the government recalled the devastating September 19, 1985 quake that hit Mexico City with an 8.1 magnitude that prompted large waves to cause “havoc” on the country’s Pacific coast.