Pacific Overview

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS) first convened in 1968. The ICG/PTWS was renamed from the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (ICG/ITSU) in 2005 to an intergovernmental body focusing on commitments of member states to continually embrace the comprehensive nature of tsunami risk reduction. The guidelines for the PTWS activities are compiled in the PTWS Implementation Plan (under revision).

At the ICG/PTWS-XXVIII, the following Officers were elected, and Working Groups and Task Teams established

Chairperson

Mr Yuji Nishimae (Japan Meteorological Agency, Japan)

Vice-chairpersons  

Dr Wilfried Strauch (INETER, Nicaragua)

Mr David Coetzee (Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, New Zealand)

Working Groups

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group meets regularly to establish and implement working plans in the Pacific region. To address specific technical issues it has formed three sessional working groups, four regional working groups and six task teams:

Working Group 1 - Understanding Tsunami Risk - Co-Chairs Dr Diego Arcas (USA), Ms Sarah-Jayne McCurrach (New Zealand)

Working Group 2 - Tsunami Detection, Warning and Dissemination - Chair Dr Bill Fry (New Zealand), Vice-Chair to be elected

Working Group 3 - Disaster Risk Management and Preparedness - Chair Ms Ashleigh Fromont (New Zealand), Vice-Chair Dr Laura Kong (ITIC, USA)

Regional Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System on the Central American Pacific Coast - Chair Ms Griselda Marroquin (El Salvador), Vice-Chair Dr Silvia Chacon (Costa Rica)

Regional Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the South East Pacific Region - Chair Lt Fausto Bravo (Chile), Vice-Chair Marcelo Acosta (Ecuador)

Pacific Island Countries and Territories Regional Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System - Chair Ms Esline Garaebiti (Vanuatu), Vice-Chair Mr Mathew Moihoi (Papua New Guinea)

Regional Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the South China Sea Region - Chair Mr Dakui Wang (China), Vice-Chair Suci Anugrah (Indonesia)

Task Team on Future Goals and Performance Monitoring - Chair Ms Sarah-Jayne McCurrach (New Zealand) and Vice-Chair Ms Mary Rengifo (Colombia)

Task Team on PacWave Exercise - Co-Chairs Mr Emilio Talavera (Nicaragua), Ms Margarita Martinez (Chile)

WG2 Task Team Tsunami Service Providers - Chair Dr Charles McCreery (USA)

WG2 Task Team Seismic Data Sharing in the South West Pacific - Co-Chairs Rennie Vaiomounga (Tonga), Mr Mathew Moihoi (Papua New Guinea) 

WG2 Task Team Minimum Competency Levels for National Tsunami Warning Centre Operations - Chair Mr Ofa Fa’anunu (Tonga), Vice-Chair Dr Laura Kong (ITIC, USA)

WG2 Task Team Integrated PTWS Sensor Networks for Tsunami Detection and Characterisation - Co-Chairs Dr Bill Fry(New Zealand), Dr Tim Melbourne (USA)

WG-PICTs Task Team Capacity Development - Chair Mr Ofa Fa’anunu (Tonga)

WG-SCS Task Team on Capacity Development and Services - Chair Dr Zhiguo Xu (China)