The magnitude-9 Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake of December 26, 2004, increased awareness in the United States of the destructive hazard posed by earthquakes and tsunamis. The U.S. Government, working with international partners, is responding with a real-time system that will significantly improve global earthquake and tsunami monitoring. This fact sheet describes a project for earthquake and tsunami monitoring along a major portion of our vulnerable coastal regions, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. The project is a result of collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).