Quakes, volcanic eruptions, giant landslides and tsunamis may become more frequent as global warming changes the earth's crust, scientists said on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka Government has constructed its third tsunami warning tower at Mahawewa area in Puttalam.

This tsunami warning center will be operated jointly by the Disaster Management Centre and the Meteorological Department.

An awareness programme was also held at the Mahawewa beach area yesterday to inform the public on how the warning tower works.

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Indonesia, which killed at least 42 people and forced thousands to flee buildings, is likely to rise, government agencies said early on Thursday morning.

The 7.0 magnitude quake shook buildings in the capital Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon and flattened homes in villages closer to the epicenter in West Java.

Threats of hazards are still not taken seriously in Pakistan to the extent of taking precautionary measures in an institutional form. The country has been facing socio-economic losses as hazards are converted into disasters. Earthquakes, floods, droughts, tsunamis and cyclones have occurred in different parts of the country in the recent past.

Scientists have underestimated the potential for a giant quake and tsunami that could swamp much the U.S. northwest and Canadian west coasts, British and U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Tsunami left Tamil Nadu

? A massive earthquake of magnitude 9.0 hit Indonesia off the west coast of Sumatra on the morning of December 26,2004, at 6:58 a.m. Another earthquake of magnitude 7.3 occurred 81km west of Pulo Kunji (Great Nicobar, India) at 9:51 a.m. on the same day. The earthquakes set off giant tsunamis three to 10 metres high, which travelled 2,000km across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh is likely to be among the countries that will be the worst affected by climate change. Climate change refers to the changes in climatic elements' behaviour due to natural variability and human activity. In the last few decades, extensive floods, cyclones, tidal surges, tsunamis, drought, riverbank erosion, etc., have attacked our country increasingly frequently.

More than 400 tsunami-affected families in Kalmunai, Ampara who lost their homes in the tsunami waves moved in to new houses in two apartment complexes in Periyaneelavani and at the Road Development Department and Irrigation Department housing complex.