North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas

Tsunami Information Centre

Upcoming NEAMWAVE Exercises

NEAMWave23

TSUNAMI TEST and EXERCISE in the NORTH-EASTERN ATLANTIC, MEDITERRANEAN AND CONNECTED SEAS TO BE CONDUCTED ON 6 AND 7 NOVEMBER 2023.

Countries in the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (the NEAM region) will participate in a tsunami test and response exercise during 6 and 7 of November 2023. 

The purpose of this exercise is to evaluate local tsunami response plans, increase tsunami preparedness, and improve coordination throughout the region. It is the fifth of such international exercise in this region after NEAMWave12 (2012), NEAMWave14 (2014) , NEAMWave17 (2017), and NEAMWave21 (2021).

Regional and national tsunami warning systems in every ocean must maintain a high level of readiness so that all the actions relevant to the public’s safety can be provided effectively and efficiently during fast-onset and rapidly-evolving natural disasters such as tsunamis. To maintain a high state of operational readiness, National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWCs) and Civil Protection Authorities must regularly practice their emergency response procedures to ensure that vital communication links work seamlessly and that agencies and response personnel know the roles that they will need to play during an actual event. This important exercise will test the current procedures of the Tsunami Warning System and help identify operational strengths and weaknesses in each country.

Each ICG/NEAMTWS Member State is invited to participate in the NEAMWave23 exercise. Participation levels may be different because it is up to each Member State to freely decide if and how to be part of the exercise. Member States wishing to participate in NEAMwave23 exercise have to fill in the online exercise subscription form provided. TWFP/NTWC/TNCs of the Member States that are not a subscriber to a TSP yet, are specifically encouraged to subscribe to the NEAMWave23 scenario they are interested in since the exercise would be a good opportunity to subscribe to the activities of the TSPs, and they would be further encouraged to be permanent recipients of the TSPs.

Each NEAMTWS Member State can choose to participate in one or more scenarios, since all of them are taking place in different half-days, therefore avoiding overlapping. Participation in the different scenarios should be decided on the basis of the Member State’s interest in the relative scenario play (i.e. the geographical area of interest). For each scenario chosen, the Member State has to specify which of the two or three phases will see its involvement. To participate in NEAMWave23, the minimum involvement requested for each chosen scenario is Phase A. However, the main aim of the exercise is to have CPA involved as much as possible, together with the respective tsunami message recipients (Tsunami Warning Focal Points/National Tsunami Warning Centres, TWFP/NTWC’s). Therefore, it is strongly recommended to also implement Phase B, and one of the exercise types.

Additionally, for the first time, the IOC-UNESCO EU DG-ECHO CoastWAVE project communities in Cyprus (Lárnaca), Egypt (Alexandria), Malta (Marsaxlokk), Morocco (El Jadida), Greece (Samos), Spain (Chipiona), Türkiye (Büyükçekmece), as well as other communities implementing Tsunami Ready in France (Cannes), Italy (Minturno, Palmi, and Marzamemi), Israel and Portugal will have the opportunity to participate.

NEAMWave23 will simulate two regional widespread Tsunami Service situations, Phase A, Phase B and Phase C, which require operationalization of national tsunami response plans and procedures.

Two exercise scenarios will be simulated in NEAMWave23 by Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs): 

 

The timetable of NEAMWave23 Scenarios

Date & Time

Scenario

Region

TSPs

6 November 2023

08:00 UTC

1761 ATLANTIC EARTHQUAKE

[8.5 Mw, 35°N, 12°W, 10 km depth]

North-Eastern Atlantic

Joint Scenario by IPMA - CENALT

7 November 2023

08:00 UTC

HELLENIC ARC

[8.1 Mw, 34.52°N, 24.57°E, 10 km depth]

Eastern Mediterranean

Joint Scenario by INGV - NOA- KOERI

 

NOTE: The subscribers of joint scenarios will receive the exercise messages from all responsible TSPs.

If any real tsunami threat occurs during the time period of the exercise, the exercise will be terminated.

The exercise is coordinated by the UNESCO/IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG/NEAMTWS), Task Team on Tsunami Exercise and NEAMWave23 exercise team supported by the Emergency Response and Coordination Center (ERCC) of the European Commissions of Civil Protection Mechanism.

 

IOC-ICG/NEAMTWS

See ICG/NEAMTWS for more information on the ICG/NEAMTWS.

ICG/NEAMTWS Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs)


CENALT:      CENtre National d'Alerte aux Tsunamis

CAT-INGV:   Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Centro Allerta Tsunami

IPMA:           Portuguese Institute for Ocean and Atmosphere / Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera

KOERI:        Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute

NOA:            National Observatory of Athens