Winners of Tsunami Ready youth Art Competition in the Caribbean announced

The competition was organized as a key output of a project aimed at strengthening tsunami early warning and response capacities in Caribbean countries, sponsored by the European Commission DIPECHO and coordinated by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The contest targeted arts students aged 14-16 from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

The visual art competition’s goal was to raise awareness of the tsunami hazard and promote an improved understanding of geologic phenomena and emergency response systems in the participating countries to the project: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. Officially launched in October last year, this competition contributed to the 2019 World Tsunami Awareness Day (5 November).

The prizes were to be presented to the top three art pieces in each country at the joint ceremony for the recognition of the Tsunami Ready community and art competition awards. However, due to travel and gathering restrictions in light of COVID-19, this ceremony has been postponed and will be virtual, when implemented. Featured: 1st Price Antigua and Barbuda/Miss Sapphire Percival of Sir Novelle Richards Academy

Strengthening Ecuador’s preparedness to tsunamis

Located above the plate boundary where the Nazca Plate is subducting beneath the South American Plate, Northern Ecuador and Southern Colombia are at high risk of earthquakes and tsunamis.

During the course of the last century, two major earthquakes that triggered destructive tsunamis hit the two countries: the 1906 Ecuador-Colombia earthquake (Mw 8.8 of magnitude) and the 1979 Tumaco earthquake (Mw 8.2 of magnitude). More recently, on 16 April 16 2016 a Mw 7.8 earthquake hit again the coast of Ecuador, killing more than 600 people. A tsunami alert was issued by the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Fiji, Panama and Peru.

Tsunami early warning is critical to protecting lives in the aftermath of an earthquake. To strengthen national preparedness to the risk of tsunami, the Government of Ecuador and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission – which have a long-standing technical cooperation in place in this area – organized an Expert Meeting on 27-29 January in Guayaquil, on the Ecuadorian coast. The Meeting focused on tsunami sources, hazards, risk and associated uncertainties along the Colombia-Ecuador border. Experts in the fields of seismology, geology, geodesy, sea level monitoring, sedimentology, tectonics, tsunami modelling, paleo-seismology and paleo-tsunami were consulted during the meeting in order to develop and explore potential tsunami hazard and credible scenarios for the area. A significant part of the meeting was also dedicated to explore current research projects and potential collaborations. The commitment of all participants allowed for fruitful discussions whereby modelled tsunami inundation scenarios were brainstormed and visualized.

High importance was placed on the engagement of local communities: representatives from the local Gobiernos Autónomos Descentralizados (GAD) were invited to take part into a public awareness event hosted by the Oceanographic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy (INOCAR) at the Navy Officers’ club in Guayaquil as part of the official programme of the Meeting.

Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Factsheet (2019)

Noting the 15th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) has published a new version of its factsheet. This reflects significant advancements in the system since the previous factsheet was released in 2015.

The 2019 IOTWMS factsheet includes information on the terms of reference, membership and governance of the ICG as well as details of the earthquake and sea-level monitoring networks, area of service and earthquake source zones. New additions to the factsheet include the operational websites of the National Tsunami Warning Centres of IOTWMS Member States, details of tsunamis in the Indian Ocean since 2004, and an overview of the UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready initiative.

To view the factsheet, please click on the image.

Sixteenth Session of the ICG-NEAMTWS : IPMA, Portugal is the Fifth Tsunami Service Provider the NEAM 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.