Centro de Desastres del Pacífico

PDC también brindó apoyo a los esfuerzos humanitarios en Afganistán en 2002. Entre 1996 y 2003, las iniciativas relacionadas con eventos incluyeron el apoyo directo de tecnología de la información para operaciones relacionadas con el huracán Jimena que amenazaba Hawái, inundaciones y deslizamientos de tierra en Samoa Americana , el supertifón Pongsona en Guam y las Islas Marianas del Norte, el supertifón Lupit en Filipinas y los Estados Federados de Micronesia, y numerosos incendios forestales en Maui.

En el período 2004-2005, PDC brindó una amplia gama de apoyo a los países afectados por el Gran Terremoto de Sumatra y el tsunami del Océano Índico (26 de diciembre de 2004), iniciando una línea de trabajo y estableciendo asociaciones que han continuado desde entonces. PDC también participó en el desarrollo y la gestión de la Red de Información sobre Peligros Naturales de Asia Pacífico (APNHIN); la realización de una evaluación de riesgos urbanos multiamenaza para Marikina , Filipinas; la elaboración de mapas de peligros de inundación y la realización de evaluaciones de riesgo para la cuenca del río Mekong ; el suministro a la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN) , compuesta por 10 miembros, de una Red de Intercambio de Información y Comunicaciones sobre Desastres (DISCNet); el desarrollo de un atlas de terremotos para Hawái basado en el software HAZUS de FEMA; la colaboración con el Centro de Computación de Alto Rendimiento de Maui para desarrollar una interfaz interactiva basada en mapas para una base de datos ambiental oceánica; la personalización de un sistema de clasificación de incendios forestales para Hawái y la elaboración de mapas tanto de incendios forestales como de combustibles para incendios; y el desarrollo de una base de datos geoespacial digital de infraestructura crítica para Hawái.

The efforts begun in immediate response to the Indian Ocean tsunami continued through the years 2005 and 2006, and eventually included a major technical assistance project, supported by USTDA, to provide Thailand with a decision support and early warning system. The growth of APNHIN and the ASEAN DISCNet continued, perhaps accelerated by ongoing tsunami-related activities. PDC collaborated with the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission to develop a Tsunami Awareness Kit for the Pacific Islands. At this time, PDC, in partnership with Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative, also built and launched a worldwide “knowledge base” pooling the resources of 20 international population centers. The Center developed new products for Hawaii and its counties including remote information services for Maui and a statewide regional secure server. As PDC's capabilities increased, the Center was involved in more and more exercises in Hawaii and across the Pacific, it was called upon all the more frequently to support activities in response to disasters. In this period, some of the major events were Hurricane Katrina in the U.S., multiple tropical cyclones in the Central Pacific, a major landslide on Leyte Island in the Philippines, and sustained severe weather and flooding in Hawaii.

During the years 2007–2009, while constantly improving and expanding the technical tools offered to disaster managers and the public, PDC also expanded the APNHIN program from Asia Pacific to global, rebranding it the Global Hazards Information Network (GHIN) and launched a worldwide Atlas, as well. Some of the major areas of focus for PDC were disaster planning and preparedness in Vietnam; tracking avian influenza, and later, Influenza A (H1N1) also called swine flu; assisting with responses to repeated (sometimes called “unprecedented”) severe weather in Hawaii; earthquakes each year in Indonesia, some of them spawning tsunamis; the Kiholo Bay earthquake in Hawaii; a major earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands; and a fleet of tropical cyclones all across the Pacific, with many of them setting records of intensity and for the damage done. Among the notable storm events that engaged PDC most and longest was Tropical Cyclone Nargis, Burma, 2008; and a series of typhoons beginning with Ketsana, Philippines and throughout the region, 2009. For both of these events, PDC put a Geographic information system and communications expert on the ground to work with United Nations teams and others, coordinating connections, developing maps and collaborating with PDC Maui to provide immediately useful maps, images and data products.

In the fall of 2009, the Pacific was plagued by disasters, and Pacific Disaster Center's resources were severely tested. In the six days from September 27 to October 1, the Center created and delivered products or otherwise provided direct support for the responses to Typhoon Ketsana, especially the storm's devastating effects on Manila, Philippines; Typhoon Parma, which increased the disastrous flooding in Manila; Super Typhoon Melor, the worst effects of which were felt in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and in Japan; multiple earthquakes and a devastating tsunami in Samoa and American Samoa; and another cluster of earthquakes in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Just days after this “Week of Pacific Disasters,” there was an additional cluster of earthquakes, notably in Vanuatu where another tsunami was generated, and new tropical cyclones formed, as well.