Vienna, The Philippines and Australia signed agreements to receive tsunami warning information from the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) on Friday.

These countries can now use CTBTO data from the organization's 232 seismic monitoring stations that were set up all over the globe to detect nuclear weapons tests.

"This will improve the capability of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology to determine the occurrence of a tsunami in the archipelago and issue public warnings," Alberto G Romulo, the Philippines' Secretary of Foreign Affairs, said after signing the agreement.

So far, Japan, Malaysia and the United States had made similar arrangements with the Vienna-based CTBTO. Indonesia is set to sign on to the data system later this this year.

The five countries can receive CTBTO data on earthquakes that could cause tsunami 30 seconds after monitoring stations detect a seismic event. Other earthquake-monitoring systems set up by academic institutions are two to three minutes slower, according to the CTBTO.

The countries that have signed up to the CTBTO's system are closely cooperating on tsunami warning, Australia's Ambassador in Austria Peter Shannon said.

After the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed over 240,000 people - 130,000 in Indonesia alone - CTBTO member states decided to use the monitoring system also for disaster prevention.

The Philippines was hit by a tsunami in 1976, which cost 8,000 lives. Several tsunami have also occurred on Australia's northwest coast. (dpa)