UNESCO

This map shows
the tsunami
travel times after
the 8.3-magnitude
earthquake which
took place on
16 September 2015
in the shallow
depths near the
coast of central
Chile at 22:54 GMT.
The earthquake
triggered activation
of the Pacific
Tsunami Warning
and Mitigation
System established
under the auspices
of IOC-UNESCO.
98
Increasing protection from
tsunamis worldwide
Tsunamis can be among the most
devastating of natural disasters.
Their damage can be minimized by
precise forecasting, early warning and
awareness-raising strategies. Several
strategic activities were organized
and supported by UNESCO this year
to strengthen the protection from
the devastating effects of tsunamis
around the world.
© ITIC
The Pacific Ocean
On 22 May 1960, a huge earthquake
occurred south of Chile, generating a
tsunami that battered the South American
coast and later struck Hawaii, Japan and
the Philippines. The final death toll was
over 2,000. The scale of the disaster
highlighted the need for an alert system
for the Pacific, where 75 per cent of the
world’s deadliest tsunamis occur. In 1965 the
Intergovernmental Coordination Group for
the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation
System (PTWMS) came into being under the
leadership of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO).
Today it has 46 Member States, and has
evolved beyond issuing warnings to
include work on prevention, preparing
populations to respond to tsunami threats,
and technology transfer. It has access to
more than 150 seismic stations around the
world, verifies whether a tsunami has been
generated and estimates its size. While
undeniably successful, the system still has
gaps. Even if it can alert national authorities
quickly, the message must then be relayed to
vulnerable coastal populations, which could
be hit minutes after an earthquake happens.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the PTWMS, a symposium was held in
April on ‘Making the Pacific Ready for the
Tsunami Threat’ in Honolulu (United States
of America). Participants presented the
achievements of the last 50 years, reviewed
the current state of the system, and
identified practical and tangible next steps.
In February, more than 40 countries
bordering the Pacific tested their readiness
in a simulated alert exercise, Pacwave15.
This exercise was designed to evaluate
enhanced forecasting products developed
by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre
(PTWC), which provide detailed forecasts
concerning the maximal tsunami wave
amplitude, its direction and power.
The countries chose one of six scenarios
concerning earthquakes off the shores of
southern and northern Japan, Tonga, the
Philippines, Chile and Peru, or Colombia
and Ecuador. Messages were issued by
PTWC in Ewa Beach, Hawaii and the
Northwest Pacific Tsunami Advisory Centre
in Japan to focal points in every country.
The aim was to enable each country to
assess threats with precision and determine
the appropriate level of alerts.