'Pacific Wave' consolidates tsunami warning system

FRANCE: The first-ever regionwide drill for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System was carried out on May 16 and 17.

Sponsored by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the exercise, known as Pacific Wave 06, has taken on even greater importance following the major earthquake in the region earlier this month that highlighted the strengths and identified several weaknesses in the system.

"The earthquake on 4 May showed that we have greatly improved our capacity to get the initial information out quickly," said Patricio Bernal, Executive Secretary of the UNESCO-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). "However, the event also highlighted the need to improve the Information Bulletins.

These internal bulletins are now available to people outside the System, and must be able to be understood by all - whether scientist, journalist or layperson. On 4 May, there was no official warning issued by any national authority, the only ones mandated to do so. The Pacific Wave 06 exercise, the first of its kind, is a very important part of this awareness raising."

The simulation was carried out in two stages, beginning with a mock tsunami warning bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Centre in Hawaii.

Although communication drills are frequent in the System, this is the first time that the drill extended to the "last mile", checking on the capability of national authorities to reach the people at risk.

There are 28 member countries in the UNESCO/IOC International Coordinating Group of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS).