Today (26) marks the 19th anniversary of the Asian tsunami that killed 31,000 people and caused 4,000 others to disappear in Sri Lanka alone.
Central Bank figures estimate the economic loss from the disaster to be one billion US dollars.
Later, early warning towers were erected to give advanced warnings to the people about disaster situations.
From then to now, as many as 57 out of 77 of these facilities are not in working condition.
The Disaster Management Centre said alerts about contingencies would be issued to mobile phones and fixed telephones from today.
Remembrance events
With the national safety being marked, a two-minute silence was observed from 9.25 am to the memory of those killed from the tsunami.
The main event took place at the Peraliya memorial with state minister Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon present as the chief guest.
