Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Factsheets

This year (2015) marks the 50th anniversary of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS) and the 10th anniversaries of the Caribbean (CARIBE-EWS), Indian Ocean (IOTWS), and North-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (NEAMTWS) Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Systems. The latter three systems were established in response to the catastrophic Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004, which resulted in the loss of over 230,000 lives and the displacement of over 1.6 million people around the Indian Ocean. In order to capture the current state of these systems and recognise the advancements in end-to-end tsunami warning over the last decade, IOC-UNESCO has published factsheets on the CARIBE-EWS, IOTWS, NEAMTWS, and PTWS.

The factsheets detail the substantial advancements there have been in the four systems since they were established, including the deployment status of earthquake and sea-level networks, the active investments of Member States in establising National Tsunami Warning Centres, and their participation in the coordination of meetings and exercises.The factsheets provide information on the membership, terms of reference, funding and governance of the systems, and details of the detection and monitoring networks, earthquake source zones monitored and summaries of the bulletins issued by the Tsunami Service Providers for each region.

To view the factsheets click on the images below.