The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS) of the United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Caribbean Regional Stakeholders (CEPREDENAC, CDEMA, and EMIZ) will be conducting a tsunami exercise on March 17, 2016. The purpose of this exercise is to advance tsunami preparedness efforts in the Caribbean and Adjacent regions, based on Venezuela and Northern Hispaniola scenarios.
Two exercise scenarios are planned. The first scenario described in this handbook simulates a tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.4 earthquake located in Venezuela, in the southern Caribbean Sea. The second scenario is a tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.7 earthquake located in North of Hispaniola, in the Atlantic Ocean. The initial dummy messages will be issued by the US Pacific and National Tsunami Warning Centers (PTWC) on March 17, 2016 at 1400 UTC (Venezuela) and at 1500 UTC (Northern Hispaniola) and disseminated over all their standard broadcast channels. The dummy messages are issued to test communications with Tsunami Warning Focal Points and National Tsunami Warning Centers, and to start the exercise. These will be the only exercise messages broadcast from the PTWC, excluding the emails with the tsunami products to officially designated Tsunami warning focal points and NTWC. Each country and territory will further decide if and how to disseminate messages within its areas of responsibility.