ICG/NEAMTWS-VI held in Istanbul
The session launches tsunami communication test exercises and establishes a Tsunami Information Centre for the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
 

The sixth session of the UNESCO/IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG/NEAMTWS-VI), meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on 11–13 November 2009, launched a programme of communication exercises to test the communication capability of the warning system. The programme will be implemented during 2010 by a task team and the 23 Tsunami Warning Focal Points (TWFPs) nominated so far by member states around the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas, and the candidate Regional Tsunami Watch Centres in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Turkey. 

The session confirmed the importance of the multi-hazard approach for the NEAMTWS, especially in relation to storm surges that affect Members States around the North-eastern Atlantic. It will improve the prediction of coastal inundation, focus existing warning practices for different sea-level related hazards and advance hazard and risk mapping. In relation to the multi-hazard approach the ICG/NEAMTWS called for strengthened cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the European Commission (EC), especially regarding the Flood Directive, and the European Space Agency (ESA).

ICG/NEAMTWS-VI established a Tsunami Information Centre for the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAMTIC) at the IOC Secretariat. The NEAMTIC will collect and disseminate information on international warning activities for tsunamis and other sea-level related hazards particularly in the NEAM region, foster identification and exchange of best practices in preparedness for tsunamis and other sea-level related hazards, and act as an information resource for the development and distribution of awareness, educational and preparedness materials, and will collect data of tsunami events.

The Istanbul session elected the ICG/NEAMTWS officers for the next two intersessional periods: François Schindelé from France (Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique - CEA) as Chairman, and Maria Ana Baptista from Portugal (Instituto Superior de Engenharia - ISEL) and Ahmet Cevdet Yalciner from Turkey (Middle East Technical University - METU) as Vice-Chairpersons.

ICG/NEAMTWS-VI was attended by over 80 participants from 17 member countries and 2 observer countries. Two countries were participating for the first time.

The next ICG/NEAMTWS session will take place on 23-25 November 2010 in Paris at UNESCO/IOC.

As with all ICGs, NEAMTWS was established in 2005 in response to the tragic tsunami on December 26th 2004, in which over 250,000 lives were lost around the Indian Ocean region.

ICG/NEAMTWS website: www.ioc-tsunami.org/neamtws
Meeting Agenda and Documents: www.ioc-unesco.org/icg-neamtws-vi