The World Disasters Report 2009, which has just been published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, highlights the fact that although there is no tsunami early-warning alert system for the Mediterranean region, it is actually more vulnerable to tsunamis than the Indian Ocean, with 10 per cent of all tsunamis occurring in the region.

The report points out that with 140 million people living in coastal areas, large numbers of tourists and high population density in parts of the Mediterranean, a major tsunami could have devastating consequences.

More than 300,000 people were killed when a tsunami struck Indonesia and southern Thailand in December of 2004.

Efforts are under way to quickly establish the technical portions of a tsunami warning systems, but overall progress has been slow and public outreach has been limited.

The Red Cross report also said 2008 was the second deadliest in terms of disasters after the Indian Ocean tsunami, with 138,336 people killed or presumed dead after Cyclone Nargis in Burma, while a further 87,476 died in the Sichuan earthquake in China.

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