Modelling inundation to respond to tsunami threats: First training for the Pacific Islands takes place on the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Samoa tsunami

Nadi, Fiji, 30 September 2019 – The first training of the Tsunami Evacuation Maps, Plans and Procedures Programme (TEMPP 1), co-sponsored by the Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) Project of the Pacific Community (SPC) and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), took place on 30 September - 4 October 2019 in Nadi, Fiji.

The TEMMP 1: Inundation Modelling and Mapping training was the first of five trainings targeting Seismologists, Meteorologists, GIS specialists, Disaster Management Operators from National Tsunami Warning Centers, Seismological , Meteorological and Geohazard Departments and National Disaster Management Offices, that will culminate in community drills for the participating countries. The TEMPP Programme responds to the recommendations of the Seventh Meeting of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories Regional Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation that was held in Noumea, New Caledonia in March 2019 and it is a direct contribution to the Samoa Pathway.

The training participants were nominated by Tsunami National Contacts in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tuvalu, Tonga and Samoa.

The TEMPP Programme is a standardized course and process for the production of reliable and practical community-level tsunami evacuation maps, and follows IOC Manuals and Guide 82, Preparing for Community Tsunami Evacuations: from inundation to evacuation maps, response plans and exercises. Upon completion of the Programme, countries should have sufficient knowledge and capability to replicate the process in other tsunami-prone communities.  The TEMPP process also helps communities become UNESCO IOC Tsunami Ready. 

The Training provided also an opportunity to commemorate the 2009 Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga Tsunami, which on 29 September killed 149 in the independent country of Samoa, 34 in American Samoa, and nine people in Tonga, and caused damage for more than $150 million in Samoa alone.

The regular training of communities living in tsunami hazard zones is essential to increasing their preparedness to natural disasters. Partnering with regional and local authorities such as the Pacific Community is key to the sustainability of the whole Programme.

IOC-UNESCO and UNESCAP launch the project on strengthening tsunami early warning in the North West Indian Ocean region through regional cooperation

The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) was established by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO in response to the tragic Boxing Day tsunami of 26 December 2004 that led to 230,000 deaths in several countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The IOTWMS became operational in 2013 with Tsunami Service Providers established by Australia, India and Indonesia starting to provide tsunami services to 28 Member States in the region.

The Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ) off the coast of Iran and Pakistan is still poorly understood. Several decades after the 1945 tsunami caused hundreds of confirmed fatalities in the North West Indian Ocean (NWIO) region, there are still open questions about whether the Makran Subduction Zone is able to generate such large tsunamis in the future. In the worst case, tsunami waves generated by a Makran source could reach shores of India, Iran, Pakistan, Oman and other adjoining countries within a few tens of minutes with height of several metres, posing enormous challenges to existing tsunami warning systems.

To address these gaps, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is implementing a multi-national project aimed at “Strengthening tsunami early warning in the North West Indian Ocean region through regional cooperation”. Funded by the United Nations ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness, the project will enable better understanding of Makran tsunami hazard and enhance preparedness of countries in the region to respond to a near-field tsunami threat. The project was launched during two back to back meetings hosted in Muscat by the Oman Directorate General of Meteorology.

The first meeting (01-02 September 2019) was a high-level conference on tsunamis in the Makran region that reflected on national strategies for tsunami early warning and community preparedness in the context of near-field tsunamis. The second meeting (03-06 September 2019) was an Expert Meeting that resulted in formulating a strategy for regional cooperation to develop a regional tsunami hazard map for Makran region. Participants at these events included representatives of tsunami warning centres, disaster management agencies, seismologists and tsunami modellers from India, Iran, Pakistan, Oman and United Arab Emirates, and experts from Australia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, USA and UN agencies.

The participants agreed on the immediate need to strengthen national coordination mechanisms for tsunami early warning; revise early warning chains and standard operating procedures of National Tsunami Warning Centres, Disaster Management Offices and Media; and develop a regional seismicity model and probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment for the Makran region. A time-bound plan to implement these activities through a series of national and regional workshops and expert consultations to be held in India, Iran, Pakistan and Oman has also been finalised. Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 2020 (IOWave20) scheduled during September/October 2020 will be used as an opportunity to test these project interventions.

21st Conference of the IHO Mediterranean and Black Seas Hydrographic Commission: Towards Improved Collaboration for a Predicted and Safer Ocean

The 21st Conference of the Mediterranean and Black Seas Hydrographic Commission (MBSHC) was held from 11 - 13 June 2019 in Cádiz, (Spain). IOC was invited to speak on the ongoing and future collaboration with MBSHC. Denis Chang Seng provided a progress report for the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Warning System (NEAMTWS). Key recommendations to the MBSHC conference included improved bathymetry, sharing of bathymetry data and densifying sea level networks particularly nearby tsunamigenic sources for improved hazard assessments and coastal early warning systems.

Denis Chang Seng also provided a brief update on the preparations for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and informed about the plans for regional consultation workshops in 2019-2020 (including the Mediterranean) to engage regional and local stakeholders in the design of the Decade. The MBSHC conference welcomed the proposal to organize a regional consultation workshop for the Mediterranean.

The Director of IHO Rear Admiral Mustafa Iptes stressed IHO’s strong support to the UN Decade for Ocean Science and that the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project will be an important contribution towards the Decade.The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental consultative and technical body. It aims to support safe navigation and protection of the marine environment. The General Bathymetric Chart of Oceans (GEBCO) is sponsored by IHO and IOC.

Partnership for Strengthening School Preparedness for Tsunami in Asia and the Pacific

The Sub-Regional Lessons Learnt and Work Planning Meeting of the Phase II of the “Partnerships for Strengthening School Preparedness for Tsunami in Asia and the Pacific” project was held in Nadi, Fiji, on 28th – 29th May 2019. It was organized by the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Pacific Office in collaboration with the Government of Fiji and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

The United Nations Development Programme Bangkok Regional Hub (UNDP BRH) implemented the first phase with the support of Japan-UNDP Partnership Fund and Supplementary Fund from Japan. The project established partnership with the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC), Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC), the Indonesia Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Tohoku University (IRIDeS), that provided reliable source of information and comprehensive advice.

© UNDP: Sub-Regional Lessons Learnt and Work Planning Meeting participants & Fiji's National Tsunami Working Group Meeting participants

The second phase intends to keep the momentum going, fill the gaps, scale-up and integrate the preparedness programme and drills into the school curriculum and systems. The project emphasises institutionalising disaster preparedness in schools for sustainability beyond the projects. The Government of Japan has approved US$980,000 for the second phase of the school tsunami awareness project for 18 countries to be implemented over a period of 18 months, aiming to achieve three outputs:

- School preparedness and awareness programmes for tsunamis institutionalised in project countries,

- School preparedness and awareness programmes for tsunamis replicated and adapted in more schools in the Asia-Pacific region, and

- Capacity of data collection enhanced in the countries requiring support.

In the second phase, eight Pacific Island countries have been targeted that includes four new countries. The four new countries are Kiribati, Micronesia, Palau and Tuvalu and phase I countries are PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji.

UNDP Pacific Office in Suva, Fiji established partnership with the Intergovernmental Coordination Group of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS) through the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICT) Regional Working Group on Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (WG-PICT). On Day 1, Mr Jiuta Korovulavula, IOC Programme Officer Tsunami Warning and DRR shared the IOC, Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme and introduced the Pacific Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System through the WG-PICT and its linkages with National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWC) and National Disaster Management Office (NDMOs). The Fiji NTWC was represented by Mr Isikeli Duwai who presented Fiji’s National Tsunami Early Warning Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Following these presentations, it was realized that the project has an ideal opportunity to confidently contribute to strengthen targeted PICTs national tsunami early warning and mitigation systems.

The Sub-Regional Planning meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Palau, Kiribati and Tuvalu. Mr Taisuke Iwano, the First Secretary for Development Cooperation of the Embassy of Japan in Fiji, officially opened the Sub-Regional Lessons Learnt and Work Planning meeting.

The WG-PICT Task Team Capacity Building will continue to work closely with targeted PICTs through NTWC and NDMOs in collaboration with Ministry of Education and UNDP Pacific Office in the design and implementation of in-country project activities.

The Fiji Tsunami Working Group (FTWG) of the WG-PICT Task Team Capacity Building met on Day 2 to discuss Fiji’s Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation Systems and the UNDP project, phase two activities. The members of the working group are representatives of the Seismology Unit of the Fiji Mineral Resources Department, National Disaster Management Office, Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), Ministry of Education and Cultural Heritage, The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), UNDP Pacific Office and the Office of UNICEF in the Pacific.