Dealing with tsunamis in the Caribbean - Practical workshops

With the financial, technical and administrative support of various partners, including the Government of the Netherlands, the UNESCO-IOC Caribbean Tsunami Information Center (CTIC) is organizing a Regional Training Workshop on Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) Enhanced Tsunami Products in Cartagena, Colombia from 31 October to 2 November 2017. The training will benefit twenty-six participants from fifteen Member States of the Intergovernmental Coordinating Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS).

The Caribbean and its adjacent regions are prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. Over the last ten years, there have been significant improvements in analyzing earthquakes, modelling tsunamis and distributing information, allowing national disaster management officials to effectively receive, analyze and take appropriate action based on the PTWC tsunami forecasts.

Due to the impacts of extreme weather events during the 2017 hurricane season, lessons to be learned, particularly in relation to communications and observing systems, will notably be discussed during the training, in addition to exercises and teaching on various topics ranging from evacuation planning to awareness strategies.

Between 2014 and 2017, more than 250 staff from Caribbean governmental agencies received training on tsunami preparedness and over 1,400,000 people have participated in tsunami evacuation exercises.