Technical Visit to CENtre d’Alerte aux Tsunamis (CENALT)

Mr Nacer Jabour and Mrs Sabah Benchekroun from the Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique in Morocco participated in a four-day technical visit to the CENtre d’Alerte aux Tsunamis (CENALT) from 17-20 May 2016 in Paris. Mr Jabour was recently nominated as the National Tsunami Contact in Morocco. CENALT is the French National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) and one of the existing four Candidate Tsunami Service Provider (CTSP) of the North-Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Tsunami Warning System (NEAMTWS).

The technical visit provided an opportunity to share experience and expertise related to tsunami warning and mitigation for the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected Seas.

Historical tsunami in the western Mediterranean and North-Eastern Atlantic, ongoing research on tsunami hazard and risk though modeling, and how to build an optimal sea level network for tsunami warning in NEAM region were reviewed. Other topics discussed were the functions and operations of CENALT as a National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) and NEAM Candidate Tsunami Service Provider (CTSP), the internal governance and procedures with the Civil Protection Agencies, general information on the governance and operation of the NEAMTWS, the NEAMWave12 and NEAMwave14 tsunami exercises; as well as an overview of the other NEAMTWS Candidate Tsunami Service Providers and NTWCs in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

Mr Jabour and Mrs Benchekroun also visited UNESCO/IOC and discussed areas for potential collaboration.