The tsunami alert exercise that took place from the 28 to the 30 October in the Mediterranean, North-eastern Atlantic, and the Black Sea has been marked by a strong participation of the civil protection authorities. This simulation aimed at t
esting the preparedness of the countries participating in the NEAMTWS established by the IOC of UNESCO.
In comparison to the first test organized in 2012, more Civil Protection Authorities (from 5 to 14) took part in the exercise. This exercise has been also the occasion to test the mainstreaming into the NEAMTWS system of the standard operational procedures of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission, which co-funds the exercise, for providing international assistance through the Union civil protection mechanism in case of major disasters.
For certain countries, e.g. Spain, Lebanon, Romania, UK, this exercise was the first occasion to establish contracts among the actors concerned with tsunami risk at national level.For the first time, countries bordering the Black Sea, like Romania and Russia, participated in the exercise.
During the exercise some communication issues has been identified, providing the opportunity to learn some lessons regarding, in particular, the use of some communication technologies.
The exercise, named NEAMWave14, simulated 4 earthquakes generating tsunamis in the Mediterranean, north-eastern Atlantic, and Black Sea. In total 20 countries, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom out of 39 NEAMTWS Member States took part in the exercise.
We are pleased to announced the release of the workshop report on "Improving Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response in the North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas" held on 23 and 24 September 2014 in Rabat, Morocco, and organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO together with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the UNESCO for the Maghreb based in Rabat, and the Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique of Morocco.
The workshop gathered representatives of governmental, scientific and emergency management institutions from the Maghreb countries with the aim of presenting the recent developments of the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS), and preparing for the tsunami exercise, NEAMWave 14, which took place from 28 to 30 October 2014.

For more information, please visit: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002305/230519m.pdf

Le gouvernement de la République Dominicaine, avec le soutien des Nations Unies, mis en vigueur le manuel des procédures opérationnelles permanentes (POP) pour sauver des vies et prévenir la perte de propriété en cas de tsunamis.
Lors d'une cérémonie tenue le lundi 27 Octobre à la Maison des Nations Unies, des représentants du Centre des opérations d'urgence (COE), l'Université de sismologie de l'Institut (ISU-UASD) et l'Office national de météorologie (de ONAMET) se sont engagés à assurer par la mise en œuvre du manuel définit les rôles de chaque entité dans le cas de tsunamis.
Cette activité est soutenue par la COI / UNESCO et le Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement (PNUD) dans le cadre du projet "Les communautés résilientes séismes et les tsunamis à Puerto Plata" qui est financé par la Direction générale de l'aide humanitaire et de la protection civile de la Commission européenne et l'ONG espagnole Anesvad.
La représentante et résidente adjointe du PNUD, Luciana Mermet, a annoncé le jeudi 30 Octobre un exercice d'évacuation a Puerto Plata, avec l'equipe "Action tsunami " et le secteur de l'éducation. L'objectif sera d'évacuer plus de deux mille élèves de cinq écoles de Puerto Plata qui sont situés dans les zones vulnérables aux tremblements de terre et tsunamis.
Mermet a partagé la table d'honneur avec le directeur adjoint du Centre des opérations d'urgence, Edwin Olivares, directeur ONAMET Gloria Ceballos, le représentant de l'ISU, Félix Martinez, l'officiel de programme de la Commission européenne, Gina Sosa, le coordinateur de la Unité de gestion des risques du ministère de l'Éducation, Milagros Yost, le représentant de la Commission nationale d'urgence, José Alcantara et le professeur Miguel Llivina du bureau de l'UNESCO a la Havane.
NEAMTWS Secretariat is launching its Second Tsunami Warning and Communication Exercise (NEAMWave 14) for the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and Connected Seas Region that will take place from 28 to 30 October.
Twenty-one countries out of the 39 involved in ICG/NEAMTWS will participate in the Exercise bringing them the opportunity to test the efficiency of the communication systems in charge of transmitting tsunami alerts and, in some countries, to ensure that the authorities in charge of public safety are prepared to face such a threat.
In order to prepare the participants and to inform the population, the Exercise Team has prepared the Manual Tsunami Warning and Communication Exercise. The NEAMTWS Secretariat has developed the flyer Exercise NEAMWave 14.
For more information, please visit:

The Indian Ocean Tsunami on 26th December 2004 resulted in the loss of over 230,000 lives including over 2,500 foreign tourists, and the displacement of over 1.6 million people around the Indian Ocean, with estimated economic losses of $14 billion. The catastrophe brought renewed focus on the need for a regional tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean. Following the disaster, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO was given the mandate to develop and implement an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS). An Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the IOTWS was established by the IOC Assembly in July 2005.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, IOC UNESCO and the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology for Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) are sponsoring and organising a conference to recognise the achievements of the last 10 years, to highlight work that still needs to be done, and to seek re-commitment to continued investment in the IOTWS. The conference will be held at the BMKG Auditorium in Jakarta, Indonesia, 24-25 November 2014 and will offer high level perspectives from invited speakers and panel discussions from decision makers and scientists. The 2nd announcement for the conference provides further details of the conference programme.
The conference is open attendance and there is no registration fee. Registration can be completed online at: www.ioc-unesco.org/IOTconference2014. For further information please contact Mr Tony Elliott, Head of ICG/IOTWS Secretariat, at: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser..

La côte indonésienne, entre Banda Aceh et Meulaboh, au lendemain du tremblement de terre et du tsunami du 26 décembre 2004. Photo Evan Schneider © UN Photo
L’UNESCO aide les États membres à renforcer leur capacité d’évaluation du risque de tsunami, à mettre en œuvre des systèmes d’alerte rapide aux tsunamis et à mieux préparer les populations exposées. Elle travaille étroitement avec les organismes nationaux et favorise la coopération
interorganismes et régionale. Des centres régionaux spécialisés fournissent une information relative aux tsunamis, laquelle, assortie d’une analyse nationale, constitue la base des alertes publiques. En outre, l’UNESCO encourage des démarches fondées sur les populations, à la base, par le biais de l’élaboration de plans d’intervention et de campagnes de sensibilisation qui impliquent fortement les établissements éducatifs et l’utilisateur final.