You learn much from reading news accounts. For example, I thought Russia was an independent nation. But according this AP report on Sunday’s tsunami in the Indian Ocean, I am incorrect.

The international warning system was started in 1965, the year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 temblor struck Alaska in 1964. It is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, was well as the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand. It also includes France, which has sovereignty over some Pacific islands, and Russia.