Revised Guidelines on Tsunami Risk Assessment and Mitigation for the Indian Ocean

The revised Guidelines on “Tsunami Risk Assessment and Mitigation for the Indian Ocean; knowing your tsunami risk – and what to do about it” have been published by IOC UNESCO.  The Guidelines are the 2nd edition of IOC Manuals and Guides No. 52, which was first published in 2009.  They have been compiled by an international group of tsunami experts with the benefit of new published and unpublished information. 

The Guidelines have been prepared as an activity of ICG/IOTMWS Working Group 1 on Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness and Preparedness as part of a project entitled: “Enhancing Tsunami Risk Assessment and Management, Strengthening Policy Support and Developing Guidelines for Tsunami Exercises in Indian Ocean Countries” for which IOC UNESCO secured funding from the UNESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness in India Ocean and South East Asia Countries.  Reports from this project, including the revised Guidelines, are available for download at: http://www.ioc-tsunami.org/trate_reports.

New material includes a chapter reviewing the current and recent initiatives in institutional risk assessment and management with in a disaster risk reduction (DRR) framework and a chapter addressing the rationale and key steps to be followed in the sequence of risk assessment and risk reduction procedures.  There is a new chapter on case studies, which provides summary accounts of strengths and weaknesses in the delivery of early warning for the major tsunami events in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean regions since the beginning of 2004.   Additionally, there is a new chapter on tools and/or methods associated with tsunami propagation models, post-event surveys, integrating inundation models into land use planning, risk-based land use planning, and community-based disaster risk management.

Creole tsunami awareness videos in Haiti

Dans le cadre du projet DIPECHO "Consolider les capacités haïtiennes de préparation et d'alerte rapide aux tsunamis" (Avril 2013 - Décembre 2014) des documents de sensibilisation ont été élaborés pour compléter le message délivré par les lignes directrices. Trois spots animés ont été développés avec le Comité thématique pour la sensibilisation du public et de l'éducation (CTESP) du gouvernement d'Haïti, en ciblant la communauté scolaire et le grand public. Ces vidéos sont en créole. Le Programme de préparation aux catastrophes de la Commission européenne (DIPECHO) du Service d'aide humanitaire de l'Union européene (ECHO) vise les populations vulnérables vivant dans les principales régions sous risque de catastrophes dans le monde. L'UNESCO et la Commission océanographique intergouvernementale (COI) sont partenaires de DIPECHO.

Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Factsheets

This year (2015) marks the 50th anniversary of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS) and the 10th anniversaries of the Caribbean (CARIBE-EWS), Indian Ocean (IOTWS), and North-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (NEAMTWS) Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Systems. The latter three systems were established in response to the catastrophic Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004, which resulted in the loss of over 230,000 lives and the displacement of over 1.6 million people around the Indian Ocean. In order to capture the current state of these systems and recognise the advancements in end-to-end tsunami warning over the last decade, IOC-UNESCO has published factsheets on the CARIBE-EWS, IOTWS, NEAMTWS, and PTWS.

The factsheets detail the substantial advancements there have been in the four systems since they were established, including the deployment status of earthquake and sea-level networks, the active investments of Member States in establising National Tsunami Warning Centres, and their participation in the coordination of meetings and exercises.The factsheets provide information on the membership, terms of reference, funding and governance of the systems, and details of the detection and monitoring networks, earthquake source zones monitored and summaries of the bulletins issued by the Tsunami Service Providers for each region.

To view the factsheets click on the images below.

10th Session of the ICG/IOTWS held in Muscat, Oman, 24-26 March

The 10^th Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWS-X) has been held in Muscat, Oman, 24-26 March, hosted by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) of the Sultanate of Oman.  The session was held immediately following the highly successful regional conference on “Reducing Tsunami Risk in the Western Indian Ocean” and the inauguration of Oman’s National Multi-Hazard Early Warning System.  The session was opened by the IOC Executive Secretary, Dr Vladimir Ryabinin, and was attended by 73 participants representing 20 IOTWS Member States, 5 UN agencies and other organisations and 17 other observers.

The key outcomes of the session were: 1) the establishment of a sub-regional Working Group for the Northwestern Indian Ocean chaired by Dr Juma Al-Maskari (Oman), 2) the merging of Working Group 1 on Tsunami Risk Assessment and Reduction and Working Group 3 on Tsunami Awareness and Preparedness into and a new Working Group 1 on “Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness and Preparedness” chaired by Dr Harkunti Rahayu (Indonesia), 3) the endorsement of the Terms of Reference of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC) and 4) the endorsement of the IOTWS Tsunami Service Provider (TSP) Service Definition Document.

The ICG elected new officers for the next intersessional period: the Chair is Dr Srinivasa Kumar (India) and the Vice Chairs are Dr Juma Al-Maskari (Oman) and Prof S.S.L. Hettiarchchi (Sri Lanka).

Full details of the delegates, documents and presentations can be found on the meeting website: www.ioc-unesco.org/iotws-10.