The thirteenth annual Regional Tsunami Exercise of the UNESCO/IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunamis and Other Coastal Hazards for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE-EWS), CARIBE WAVE 24, is conducted on the 21st of March 2024 at 1500 UTC to assist tsunami preparedness efforts throughout the Caribbean and adjacent regions. More than 700.000 people registered in the TsunamiZone.
Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, Manager of the International Tsunami Information Center Caribbean Office (ITIC-CAR), discussing the PTWC tsunami products for the Puerto Rico Trench scenario with the analysts of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network (Credit: Kimberly Maisonet Gonzalez, ITIC-CAR contractor)
The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG/NEAMTWS) met in Paris, France for its 18th Session on 6–8 February 2024. A key highlight was the election of new ICG/NEAMTWS officers Mr Alessandro Amato, Italy as the new ICG/NEAMTWS Chairperson and Mr Amr Hamouda (Egypt), Mr Ignacio Aguirre Ayerbe (Spain) for vice Chairpersons for the period 2024-2025. High on the agenda was the status of implementation of UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme, with Cannes (France) becoming the first recognized Tsunami Ready community in NEAM region. The meeting also hailed the finalization and publication of the ICG/NEAMTWS 2021-2030 Strategy Document as an IOC Technical Series and Brochure; the conduction of regional tsunami exercise (NEAMWave23); the new approved two-years Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO) funded CoastWAVE Project Phase-II. The group decided to establish a new task team on non-seismic tsunamis and plan the next regional tsunami exercise in 2025.
March 11 marked the somber anniversary of the catastrophic tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, a day that forever changed the lives of thousands. Thirteen years have passed since the waves unleashed by the Great East Japan Earthquake claimed over 15,000 lives and left countless others grappling with injuries, displacement, and profound grief.
The Seventeenth Meeting of the Working Group on Tsunamis and Other Hazards related to Sea Level Warning and Mitigation Systems (TOWS-WG-XVII) concluded on February 23, 2024, in Sendai, Japan. Hosted at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, the meeting ran parallel to the Task Team on Disaster Management and Preparedness (TT-DMP) and the Inter-ICG Task Team on Tsunami Watch Operations (TT-TWO) meetings, sharing joint agenda items.
Over 40 national representatives, stakeholders and experts assembled at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris for a meeting of CoastWAVE, a Project implemented by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and funded by the European Commission's DG ECHO in the context of the UN Ocean Decade 2021-2030.
La costa de Indonesia, entre Banda Aceh y Meulaboh, tras el seísmo y tsunami del 26 de diciembre de 2004. Fotografía de Evan Schneider © Foto de Naciones Unidas
La UNESCO presta apoyo a los Estados Miembros con el fin de mejorar sus capacidades de evaluación de riesgos de tsunami, implantar sistemas de alerta temprana y mejorar la preparación de las comunidades amenazadas. La UNESCO colabora estrechamente con instituciones nacionales, y promueve la cooperación interinstitucional y regional. Los centros regionales especializados proporcionan información sobre los tsunamis que, conjuntamente con los análisis efectuados a nivel nacional, sirven para elaborar las alertas al público. Además, la UNESCO promueve metodologías comunitarias mediante el desarrollo de planes de respuesta y campañas de sensibilización, en las que participan en buena medida instituciones docentes y usuarios finales.