India became the first nation stricken by the Indian Ocean tsunami to vow today to set up an early warning system, despite the expense and the fact it may not be needed for a generation or longer.
Affected countries had no warning of Sunday's devastating sea wave that killed over 70,000 people because tsunamis are so rare in the area they are not tracked, whereas a system to raise the alarm and save lives already covers much of the Pacific Ocean.
As the death toll has risen, so have calls for a warning system and India, which closely monitors other weather trouble like monsoons, said it would now set one up in response.
"India will have deep ocean assessment reporting systems to monitor any change in the deep ocean ... data will be fed to a satellite which will provide real-time information on any change in ocean behaviour," Science and Technology Minister Mr Kapil Sibal told a news conference.
He said the system would cost around 1.25 billion rupees ($29 million), an eighth as much as a system the government ruled out earlier because "India is not a Pacific country and it never had a history of tsunami".
Australia said it was ready to help any such regional moves.
"Geoscience Australia have a very sophisticated capability for measuring earthquakes in the region and that can be enhanced in order to assist with developing a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean region in coordination with other countries," Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer said.