Making the Pacific Ready for the Tsunami Threat: International Symposium Commemorating 50th Anniversary of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System

This symposium, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the Pacific, aims to present the achievements of the last 50 years, review the current state of the System, and identify practical and tangible next steps, desirable partnerships, and necessary commitments needed to sustain and evolve the System for the future. It is organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and its Tsunami Commission, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Pacific Ocean basin is the largest and most tsunami-prone of any of the Earth’s ocean basins. Approximately 75% of the world’s known fatal tsunamis have been generated in the Pacific. Modern tsunami warning system development and coordination of the international tsunami warning efforts started in 1960 after the Chilean earthquake  the strongest registered to date  triggered a tsunami that crossed the Pacific and lead to casualties in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the Pacific was created as a subsidiary body of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO in 1965 to support Member States in the implementation of effective measures of tsunami warning and mitigation.