June 28 (Bloomberg) -- A tsunami alert system for nations bordering the Indian Ocean is up and running, 18 months after deadly waves triggered by an earthquake slammed into 12 nations across the region and killed an estimated 220,000 people.

Twenty-six information analysis centers capable of receiving and distributing tsunami advisories have been activated in Indian Ocean countries, Koichiro Matsuura, director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said today in Paris. He said they are linked to 25 seismological stations and three deep-sea sensors.

``The new systems need to be tested in real situations,'' Matsuura said, according to a UN statement. ``New communication tools like small messaging services are vulnerable to saturation when they are most needed. New siren systems are heard on one side of a bay but not on the other.''

A magnitude-9 quake that struck off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province on Dec. 26, 2004, generated waves that hit coastlines with almost no warning, causing the largest loss of life and property in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.

The alert system, which was scheduled to be operational by July, has gradually come on line since April. Matsuura said the system would be further improved by the end of the year, when it will be capable of ``improved and faster detection'' of tsunamis and greater precision in locating the epicenter of earthquakes that cause the deadly waves.

Information bulletins are issued from Japan and Hawaii until a decision on the location of up to five regional centers in the Indian Ocean region, the UN said. Matsuura said there was also a need for improved national responsiveness to emergencies.

Sue Williams, a spokeswoman for Unesco, said about $2 million was spent to install all the sensors.

Research Speeds Detection

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said today that researchers using the satellite-based global positioning system have demonstrated they can determine within 15 minutes whether a quake is capable of causing an ``ocean- wide'' tsunami, speeding up accurate decision-making by alert centers.

``The advantage of including GPS in warning systems is that it quickly tells how much the ocean floor moved, and that information can directly set tsunami models into motion,'' NASA quoted Geoffrey Blewitt of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology and Seismological Laboratory in Reno, as saying. Blewitt led a team of researchers who used technology funded by the space agency.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner in United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 28, 2006 15:06 EDT