AS SURVIVORS along the coasts devastated by the tsunami on 26
December start to clear the debris, the world's attention is
turning to how these communities are going to rebuild their
towns and villages. When the unthinkable happens again, will
they be any better prepared? "When you think of the hundreds of
millions of dollars that have been lined up, there is a real
chance that we simply rebuild the risky circumstances that we
had before," warns Reid Basher of the UN's International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) in Bonn, Germany. "This
is often the case in earthquake situations. The rebuilding
reinstates the risk in the big rush to get everything going
again." But rebuilding also gives communities an opportunity to
prepare for future tsunamis, and at little extra cost. The
nations that border the Pacific, which are in most danger from
earthquake-triggered waves, have pioneered ways to protect
themselves. ... To continue reading this article, subscribe to
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