Germany wants to set up a system for early warning of tsunamis.

A government spokesman told the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the system would in its beginning stage cost about $53 million, and can be built in one to three years.

The spokesman said the new project would add 30 to 40 seismological stations in the Indian Ocean to a global network of 50 already existing research bodies.

He also said the project initially would concentrate on Sri Lanka and Indonesia, two of the countries hardest hit by the devastating December 26 tsunami.

However, he added, with other donor nations, some 250 new stations may be included in the global system which will able to monitor also the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.