North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas

Tsunami Information Centre

KOERI’s Tsunami Warning System in the Eastern Mediterranean and Its Connected Seas: A Decade of Achievements and Challenges

Abstract

A tsunami warning system providing services in the Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara and Black Seas under the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)— Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS) framework was established in Turkey by the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI) (Özel et al., 2011). KOERI’s Regional Earthquake and Tsunami Monitoring Center (RETMC) was established on the foundations of the legacy KOERI National Earthquake Monitoring Center (NEMC) by adding observation, analysis and operational capability related to tsunami early warnings after an extensive preparatory period during 2009 and 2011. The center initiated its test-mode 7/24 operational status as a national tsunami warning center in 2011, and after a one year period it became operational as a candidate tsunami warning center for NEAMTWS on 1 July 2012, together with CENALT (Centre d’Alerte aux Tsunamis—France) and followed by the NOA (National Observatory of Athens—Greece) on 28 August 2012, INGV (Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia—Italy) on 1 October 2014 and IPMA (Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera—Portugal) on 1 February 2018, completing full coverage of the tsunami-prone regions monitored by NEAMTWS. In this paper, an overview of the progress and continuous improvement of KOERI’s tsunami early warning system will be presented, together with lessons learned from important tsunamigenic events, such as the 20 July 2017 Bodrum–Kos Mw 6.6 and 30 October 2020 Samos–Izmir Mw 6.9 earthquakes. Gaps preventing the completion of an effective tsunami warning cycle and areas for future improvement are also addressed.

KOERI–TSP service area (which excludes the Western Mediterranean and Corinth Gulf), tsunami forecast points (TFPs—shown as white triangles) included in its messages and tide gauges (shown as colored dots) available to KOERIRETMC in its TSP operations. Figure 1. KOERI–TSP service area (which excludes the Western Mediterranean and Corinth Gulf), tsunami forecast points (TFPs—shown as white triangles) included in its messages and tide gauges (shown as colored dots) available to KOERI-RETMC in its TSP operations.

 

Reference:

Necmio ˘glu, Ö.; Turhan, F.; Özer Sözdinler, C.; Yılmazer, M.; Güne¸s, Y.; Cambaz, M.D.; Altuncu Poyraz, S.; Ergün, T.; Kalafat, D.; Özener, H. KOERI’s Tsunami Warning System in the Eastern Mediterranean and Its Connected Seas: A Decade of Achievements and Challenges. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 11247.

To read the full article, please, click on the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/23/11247

Upcoming events:

KOERI is planning activities to celebrate the first decade of its operational status as a Tsunami Service Provider through a table-top tsunami exercise and a one-day long workshop on 4th and 5th November 2022, respectively.