Purpose–Over 50 percent of the disasters occur in Asia and in the past five year disasters in
the region have killed around half million people. Most of these deaths could have been
prevented if reliable and effective early warning systems were in place. The purpose of this
paper is to discuss the use of the emerging mobile technology for disaster risk reduction.
Design/methodology/approach–LIRNEasia field tested five wireless technologies, including
mobile phones, in 32 tsunami affected villages in Sri Lanka; where members in the village …