Milestone in the Development of the NEAMTWS: Four Tsunami Service Providers received Certificate of Accreditation at the 29th Session of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Assembly, 27 June 2017

At the 29^th Session of the IOC Assembly, the chair of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICGNEAMTWS), Professor Ahmet Yalcine, and Professor Peter Haugan, the Chair of IOC presented certificates of accreditation to CENtre National d'Alerte aux Tsunamis (CENALT,France), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Centro Allerta Terremoti (CAT/INGV, Italy), National Observatory of Athens (NOA, Greece) and Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI,Turkey) for having successfully having become NEAMTWS four operational Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs).

 Certificate ceremony with Professor Peter Haugan (IOC Chairperson), Professor Ahmet Yalcine (ICG/NEAMTWS Chairperson), Dr Denis Chang Seng (ICG/NEAMTWS Technical Secretary) and representatives of TSPs

Mr. Hervé Tourmente and Mr François Schindele received the certificate as  representatives of the CENALT. Dr Gerassimos Papadopoulos received the certificate on behalf of NOA. Dr Luigi D’Angelo and Dr Alessandro Amato received the certificate as  representatives of CAT-INGV, while Professor Haluk Özener received the certificate as the Director of KOERI. Professor Özener said that ‘being a pioneer of earth observations in Turkey since its establishment in 1868, KOERI is proud to have been accredited as a NEAMTWS Tsunami Service Provider, delivering tsunami early warning in the Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Seas’. Dr Papadopoulos stressed ‘the accreditation of the HL-NTWC in September 2016 represents an important international recognition, but also signifies its increased commitments and responsibilities for the future”.

Mr Denis Chang Seng, the Technical Secretary for the ICG/NEAMTWS pointed out that ‘the accreditation of Tsunami Service Providers is unique among the four IOC coordinated tsunami warning systems (Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean)’. The ICG/NEAMTWS has adopted a procedure whereby TSPs must be accredited, indicating that they comply with a number of requirements agreed upon by ICG/NEAMTWS. Tsunami Service Providers are the primary source of tsunami advisories to member states that subscribe to them.

IOC has provided intergovernmental coordination for the development of the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (NEAMTWS) since 2005 following the adoption of IOC Resolution XXIII-14. Since then there has been steady development of the system and in 2012 three candidate Tsunami Service Providers (in France, Greece and Turkey) started to operate while in 2014 a fourth candidate Tsunami Service Provider (in Italy) began to operate.

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the NEAMTWS had decided in 2012 that Candidate Tsunami Service Providers (CTSPs) should undergo an accreditation evaluation before they can formally be named a NEAMTWS Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs). The ICG/NEAMTWS at its twelfth session (16–18 November 2015, Dublin, Ireland) agreed on the process and the procedures for carrying out the ICG/NEAMTWS accreditation of a CTSP. The documentation procedures are based on the operational and organizational functions and requirements of Tsunami Service provider (TSP) adopted by the ICG NEAMTWS. An accreditation evaluation was carried out by the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for NEAMTWS from June–September 2016.The reports of the accreditation evaluations were examined at the ICG/NEAMTWS XIII session (Bucharest, 26-28 September 2016).The ICG session approved the accreditation of the four Tsunami Service Providers.

Risques de Tsunami : Promouvoir les systèmes de surveillance et d'alerte

En vue de la prévention, de la préparation aux risques de Tsunamis et aux risques liés aux hausses du niveau de la mer, des consultations avec plusieurs institutions nationales et internationales ainsi qu’avec le groupe de travail restreint du plan de contingence du système des Nations unies ont eu lieu du 24 au 28 avril 2017 à Rabat dans le cadre du programme de Système d'alerte précoce et d'atténuation des tsunamis dans l'Atlantique du Nord-Est, la Méditerranée et les mers liées “Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG/NEAMTWS)” de la Commission Océanographique Intergouvernementale de l’UNESCO (COI).

• La Commission nationale marocaine pour l’éducation, les sciences et la culture
• La Direction de la Science et de la Technologie à l’ISESCO
• La Direction Générale de la Protection Civile Marocaine
• L’Unité de Gestion des risques de catastrophe au Ministère de l’Intérieur
• La Direction du partenariat, de la communication et de la coopération au Ministère de l’Energie, des Mines et du Développement durable
• Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CNRST)
• Le Centre Royal de Télédétection Spatiale
• Le Ministère de l’Aménagement du territoire national, de l’Urbanisme, de l’Habitat et de la Politique de la ville
  
  Cette mission a permis de constater les grands efforts entrepris par les pouvoir publics pour la prévention contre les risques de catastrophes et l’intérêt porté à l’appui de l’UNESCO et de la COI pour la prise en compte du risque Tsunami et des risques liés au niveau de la mer, leur intégration au niveau stratégique et sur le plan territorial

Booklet - 10 Years of the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (NEAMTWS): Accomplishments and Challenges in Preparing for the Next Tsunami

Following the 26 December 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the IOC Member States requested at the 23rd IOC Assembly (June 2005) that warning systems be developed in the Indian Ocean (IOTWS), the Caribbean (CARIBE-EWS) and the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (NEAMTWS) similar to the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWS). The year 2015 marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for NEAMTWS.

IOC is pleased to release this anniversary booklet.

The booklet provides an overview of major achievements and highlight challenges and gaps to be addressed in the coming years in order to achieve full implementation of NEAMTWS.

It describes 1) tsunamis in the NEAM region (past events) and current risk assessments; 2) the detection system and the four Tsunami Service Providers; 3) awareness raising and education; and 4) key achievements, future challenges and opportunities in the NEAM region.

The booklet was prepared by several members of the ICG/NEAMTWS with the support from the technical secretariat. Click here to download

Intersessional Meeting of the ICG/IOTWMS Working Group 1 on Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness and Preparedness

The intersessional meeting of the ICG/IOTWMS Working Group 1 (WG1) on tsunami risk, community awareness and preparedness was held in Bandung, Indonesia on 7-8 December 2016.  This meeting was hosted by the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) at the Grand Tjokro Hotel.  In total fourteen Member State representatives from eleven countries including Australia, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Seychelles and Timor Leste, one RIMES representative, one GIZ representatives and four UNESCO-IOC associates participated in this meeting. 

Photo:

Participants and Trainers of the Workshop on Lessons Learnt from Community Exercise of IOWave16, 5-6 December 2016, and Intersessional Working Group 1 Meeting on Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness and Preparedness, 7-8 December 2016, Bandung, Indonesia.

The WG1 meeting had a full agenda, which included reports on achievements and a review of the workplan.  WG1 will take several recommendations forward to the ICG/IOTWMS-XI, Kuala Lumpur, 18-20 April 2017.  These include, 

1.  Conducting a baseline assessment survey on each Member State's tsunami preparedness

2.  Conducting integrated capacity development workshops

3.  Implementing Tsunami Ready in the Indian Ocean region

4.  Enhancing community participation in future IOWave exercises

5. Aligning activities with World Tsunami Awareness Day to increase community awareness and preparedness

6. Setting up of inter-sessional task team for updating the questionnaires for baseline assessments, future IOWave exercises and ICG member-state national reports and conducting the baseline assessment

Furthermore, WG1 will investigate collaborative opportunities with other organisations (e.g. UNESCAP, UNISDR, RIMES, GIZ) to implement tsunami preparedness initiatives in the Indian Ocean region.

The WG1 meeting was held back-to-back with the Workshop on Lessons Learnt from Community Exercise of Indian Ocean Wave 2016 (IOWave16), also in Bandung on 5-6 December 2016.  This workshop was organized by the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC) and hosted by ITB with funding from UNESCAP and UNESCO-IOC.  In total ~60,000 people from 12 countries participated in community evacuations during IOWave16.  This marked a transition from what primarily used to be an upstream technical exercise to a more comprehensive end-to-end exercise.  The workshop provided a platform for Member States to share their experiences in IOWave16 and came up with specific recommendations towards enhancement of community participation in future IOWave exercises.