26 December 2019 marks the 15th anniversary of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in 14 countries in the Indian Ocean region. Commemorating this occasion, UNDRR produced a video highlighting the important elements and contributions of UNESCO-IOC, WMO, UNDP, UNESCAP and UNDRR in strengthening end to end people centred early warning systems. The video can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/J-Q4IZPJLxw
It may be recalled that the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami triggered the establishment of IOC-coordinated regional tsunami early warning systems in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Northeast Atlantic & Mediterranean, to join a system that was already operational in the Pacific. They operate as a globally integrated "system of systems" built on three pillars - tsunami risk assessment and mitigation; tsunami detection, warning and dissemination; and tsunami awareness and response.
The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warningn and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) is operational since 2013 with Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs) established by Australia, India and Indonesia providing tsunami forecast information to the National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWCs) of 25 Member States in the Indian Ocean region.
The Sixteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG/NEAMTWS) was held from 2–4 December 2019, Cannes, France. The session was hosted by the municipality of Cannes.
Photo by Jörn Beherens
The Sixteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG/NEAMTWS) was held from 2–4 December 2019, Cannes, France. The session was hosted by the municipality of Cannes.
There is considerable infrastructure build up along the coast of Cannes and a port with many expensive yachts. A total of 3 million people visit Cannes each year, including 320 cruise passengers. The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes is located close to the coast and the congress center hosts 50 major events per year including the Cannes Film Festival, and several thousands people attend these events. Cannes has taken several steps to mitigate tsunamis. Cannes has adopted the World Tsunami Awareness Day, 5 November as an annual event since 2017. It has carried out two Tsunami exercises, installed tsunami evacuation signs and adopted a comprehensive risk information document for its inhabitants (that also include a section on Tsunami). Lately, a charter for a set of city employee concerning Tsunami risks and inundation. Many of these efforts represents a first among municipalities in France and Cannes is a beacon or pilot town in that respect.
Participants reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the NEAMTWS.
The session approved accreditation of IPMA (Portugal) as a Tsunami Service Provider (TSP). IPMA is the fifth center to receive accreditation in the NEAM region. Several countries have subscribed to receive tsunami alert messages from IPMA.
The session discussed progress made regarding the formulation of the NEAMTWS Strategy and Implementation Plan and decided on how to complete the plan by next ICG/NEAMTWS. Plans for the further development of the NEAM Tsunami Information Centre (NEAMTIC) were also discussed and should be finalised at next ICG/NEAMTWS session.
The Group recognized the efforts devoted to increasing awareness on tsunami hazards and preparedness in particular in France, Italy, Greece and Turkey in line with and as a contribution to World Tsunami Awareness Day, 5 November 2019.The session also discussed the framework for providing Tsunami alerts to the maritime community which TOWS-WG (Tsunamis and Other Ocean Hazards Warning and Mitigation Systems Working Group) had developed in collaboration with the IHO/IMO World-Wide Navigational Warning Service Sub-Committee (WWNWS-SC). At this time, TSPs in NEAM region indicated the need to learn from the experiences gained in other ICG regions before taking on such a service for the NEAM region.
The session decided to carry out the NEAMWave 20 tsunami exercise on 2-4 November 2020 back-to-back with the World Tsunami Awareness Day, 5 November 2020.
Germany offered to host the seventeenth session of the ICG/NEAMTWS.
The Sixteenth session of ICG/NEAMTWS was attended by around 52 participants from 14 member countries and few observers.
In commemoration of 15 years following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the World Tsunami Awareness Day, UNESCO-IOC jointly with the Government of Indonesia organized the Indian Ocean Regional Workshop on “Strengthening Tsunami Warning Chain to Critical Infrastructure” during 20-22 November 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Expert presentations during the workshop facilitated sharing of lessons learnt from Japan and Indonesia on the impact of tsunamis on ports, harbors and coastal airports, and best practices for enhancing tsunami preparedness within such critical infrastructure facilities. This was followed by moderated discussions to identify current status, challenges and actions needed to enhance tsunami risk knowledge, warning dissemination and communication, and preparedness and response capacities.
A Tsunami exercise was organized in Latina on 10 October 2019. The exercise, named ‘TSUNEXTT’, tested standard operating procedures of institutions and municipalities that manage a tsunami risk emergency. The exercise simulated an emergency connected to a hypothetical tsunami. During this event, the SiAM Alert System (National Alert System for Tsunamis) was tested at national level by the DPC in collaboration with the CAT - INGV and the ISPRA. This event was organized by the Regional Civil Protection Agency of Lazio, the Prefecture of Latina, and twelve coastal municipalities of the Province, with the collaboration of the Department of Protection Civil (DPC), the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CAT-INGV), and the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). In addition, the Police, the Fire Department, the Harbor Master's Office, the local Health unit (ASL), the regional Health Emergency unit and the Red Cross participated in the exercise that was held "for command posts". The following video presents the three phases of the "seismic event alert"- from the "launch" of the alert to the end-of-event message that is sent to the structures in charge. Details of the exercise can be found here (in Italian).
Bodrum, Turkey
Turkey carried out two tsunami awareness raising and preparedness seminars and one table-top exercise.The tsunami awareness-raising seminar occurred in a primary school in Bodrum, Turkey, while a preparedness seminar was held at a hotel.
The table-top exercise was based on the 20 July 2017 Mw 6.6 Bodrum-Kos earthquake which provided an opportunity to assess the benefits of various activities undertaken since the 2017 earthquake. Among these activities, meetings were organized with local stakeholders on tsunami hazard-risk-awareness-readiness, preparation of tsunami inundation and evacuation maps, and installation of pilot local tsunami early warning system in the Bodrum Marina. After the exercise, a press conference was organized in Bodrum with the aim of raising tsunami awareness in the region, resulting in a national press release concerning these activities, which was issued by the Boğaziçi University. The Mugla City Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (Mugla AFAD) coordinated the table-top tsunami exercise. In addition, The District Governorship of Bodrum, the Municipality of Bodrum, the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI), the Middle East Technical University (METU), the Bodrum Port Authority, and various NGOs, supported the exercise as part of the “Last Mile Turkey”, pilot project funded and supported by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC).
Kos, Greece
As part of the 'Tsunami Last Mile' research project, funded by the European Commission DG ECHO, an earthquake and tsunami preparedness exercise was organized in the city of Kos, Greece. The purpose of the exercise, named KOSWAVE19-LM, was to test the effectiveness of a new series of technological solutions, developed by the Joint Research Center (JRC) to provide tsunami early warnings to the local population, its integration into the municipality emergency management plan and procedures, and its interface with the national tsunami warning system. Moreover, the exercise aimed to provide opportunities for emergency management authorities to define their emergency plans, exercise their operational lines of communications, and promote tsunami preparedness in the community. The exercise scenario is similar to the event of 21 July 2017, when a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck between the city of Kos (Greece) and Bodrum (Turkey) which generated a damaging tsunami (1.5 m) that hit the Bodrum peninsula and the city of Kos. Two local schools have participated in the exercise, and the students were asked to ‘get under their desk and cover’ during the earthquake shaking, to then ‘go outside’ after the shacking subsides, and after the tsunami warning is issued, ‘to move to the nearest assembly area’ through pre-defined evacuation routes using preinstalled signage along the routes. The participants learned about the Tsunami Last Mile technologies installed in the city of Kos, the purpose and aim of the exercise, as well as its organizational structure. The exercise was co-organized by the Municipality of Kos, the Hellenic National Tsunami Warning Center of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and the Joint Research Center (JRC). An event was also organized to inform the public about the earthquake and tsunami preparedness exercise.
In Egypt, the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, organized a one-day workshop on the World Tsunami Awareness Day, while in Portugal the Civil Protection municipalities in Cascais and Portimão planned to show the public and the press their local warning system (signs, sirens, evacuation routes).
Fiji Tsunami Working Group (FTWG) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS), Pacific Island Countries and Territories Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation (PICT-WG) collaborated with Ministry of Education, Culture and Heritage (MEHA), UNDP Pacific Office “Partnerships for Strengthening School Preparedness for Tsunami in Asia and the Pacific” project and Fiji Ports Corporation Limited (FPCL) to hold a series of events to observe World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) in Suva, Fiji on 5th November, 2019. These series of events is a direct response to the recommendation of the 7th Meeting of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS) Pacific Islands Countries and Territories Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation (PICT-WG) held in Noumea, New Caledonia on March 2019 on Priorities and Future Action Plans, as it noted the importance of observing the World Tsunami
Awareness Day 2019 on 5th November and urged member countries to leverage this opportunity for Nation-wide campaigns and awareness including Tsunami Evacuation Drills especially for critical infrastructures (ports, hospitals, schools, power plants, and Radio/TV Stations).
Previously, IOC collaborated with Fiji National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to install an additional 15 Tsunami Signage within the Suva Peninsula.The 15-tsunami signage adds to the existing tsunami signage currently installed within the Suva Peninsula. According to NDMO Director, Ms. Vasiti Soko, this timely support has increased the number of tsunami signage within the Suva Peninsula from 75 to 90. She highlighted that the installation of the tsunami signage was timely close to the World Tsunami Awareness Day November 5th, 2019 as some of the signage was used during the tsunami drills with four schools in Suva.
The Indonesian coast, between Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, after the earthquake and the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Photo by Evan Schneider © UN Photo
UNESCO supports Member States in improving capabilities for tsunami risk assessment, implementing early warning systems and enhancing preparedness of communities at risk. UNESCO works closely with national institutions and promotes inter-institutional and regional cooperation. Specialized regional centers provide tsunami information that, together with national analysis, is the basis of the warnings issued for the public. In addition, UNESCO promotes community-based approaches in the development of response plans and awareness campaigns which strongly involve education institutions and end-users.