Vietnamese relevant agencies will be able to warn a tsunami two hours before it hits coastal provinces with the help of a tsunami warning system of 532 stations, local newspaper Saigon Times Daily reported Sunday.The tsunami warning stations are part of a plan approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop an effective tsunami warning system in 13 provinces in central and southern regions, from Ha Tinh to Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Among 532 stations, only 36 will be built and the remainder will be installed at mobile transceiver and television stations to cut costs.

Thua Thien-Hue Province will have 85 tsunami warning stations and Quang Nam Province will have 21 stations. The project has an investment of over 293 billion Vietnamese dong ($13.5 million) with the state budget making up 95 percent.

The Institute of Geophysics under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology is responsible for monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis in Vietnam. The institute will give early warnings to the Central Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention, the National Committee for Search and Rescue, the national weather center, departments and divisions for search and rescue in provinces and the media so that they will provide information to residents.

Apart from tsunami, the system will give warnings of other natural disasters for people living near estuaries and the sea.