An EU-funded research project called SAFER has developed a groundbreaking earthquake early-warning system based on low-cost sensor technology used in car air-bags. Another, DEWS, has paved the way for a new warning system which has reduced by two-thirds the time needed to detect a seismic event that could trigger a tsunami in the Indian Ocean region, so badly hit in 2004. DEWS has also developed a text message alert system to maximise time for people to escape. Leaders of these and five other innovative EU-funded projects aiming to save lives when earthquakes and tsunamis strike will take part on 20 May in Brussels in a European Commission workshop on “Tsunami risk in Europe
