North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas
Tsunami Information Centre
End to End TEWS
In response to the tragic tsunami on 26 December 2004, in which over 250,000 lives were lost around the Indian Ocean region, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO/IOC) received a mandate from the international community to coordinate the establishment of an Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for each region: the Caribbean, the Atlantic and Mediterranean basins and the Indian Ocean, to guide the development of tsunami warning centres in those areas.
An end-to-end tsunami warning system begins with the rapid detection of a tsunami wave and ends with a well prepared community that is capable of responding appropriately to a warning. An effective end-to-end tsunami early warning system could save thousands of lives in a tsunami event.
The operation of a tsunami warning centre is a vital part of an end-to-end tsunami warning system. A tsunami warning centre is not only involved in acquiring and processing data for detecting a tsunami, but also in formulating and disseminating tsunami warnings and connecting with communities at risk to ensure that they understand the warning and have the capacity to respond.
End to End TEWS
Source: U.S. Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System Program (US IOTWS). 2007. Tsunami Warning Center. Reference Guide supported by the United States Agency for International Development and partners, Bangkok, Thailand. 311 p.
Videos Library
This video library aims at sharing the knowledge produced in the field of disaster risk management and tsunamis.
A Guide to tsunamis for hotels : tsunami evacuation procedures
Manuals and guides; 69
Tsunami preparedness civil protection: good practices guide
Manuals and guides; 65
SC-2013/WS/7
Coastal managment approaches for sea-level related hazards: case studies and good practices
Manuals and guides; 61
COASTWAVE PROJECT ENDORSED AS “UN OCEAN DECADE PROJECT”
The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), endorsed the IOC-UNESCO and EU Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) CoastWAVE project “Strengthening the Resilience of Coastal Communities in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean (NEAM) Region to the Impact of Tsunamis and Other Sea Level-Related Coastal Hazards” on 9 September 2022. The project will run from September 2021 to March 2024. Dr Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of IOC-UNESCO expressed that the endorsement of CoastWAVE project is a “milestone in the Ocean Decade Programme” and an “engagement and commitment to the Ocean Decade vision”.
Source: IOC-UNESCO
The CoastWAVE project will contribute to the transformation of ocean science solutions for sustainable development by connecting people through the IOC-UNESCO Tsunami Ready Recognition communities, Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems. It will sustainably strengthen in-country community response capacity and preparedness and local alerting systems to act against coastal multi-hazards with its community-based actions in 7 countries of the NEAM region. The project aims to do this by establishing guidelines to mitigate, prepare for and respond to tsunamis and by working with the communities to help them meet the guidelines and ultimately become recognized as Tsunami Ready by IOC-UNESCO. A key aim is to establish 7 IOC-UNESCO Tsunami Ready Recognized Communities in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic region by the end of 2023. The project seeks to build resilient communities through awareness and preparedness strategies that will protect life, livelihoods, and property from tsunamis in different regions, contributing to the Safe Ocean outcome of the Ocean Decade.
For more information about the UN Ocean Decade and IOC-UNESCO DG ECHO CoastWAVE project:
Dialogue: How to holistically address requirements, challenges and opportunities of effective local tsunami warning in the multi-hazard disaster risk mitigation context
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC), Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and the UNESCO-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) co-organized a hybrid-workshop on 4-5 October 2022 at EC-JRC Ispra, Italy. The workshop discussed on the requirements, challenges and opportunities of effective local tsunami warning in the multi-hazard disaster risk mitigation context including earthquake, volcano, and meteo-tsunami Early Warning Systems (EWS).
The workshop outcomes aim to support the development of an integrated, truly multi-hazard-oriented coastal community resilience policy brief for Europe, as well as the further development of the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System (NEAMTWS). Mr Öcal Necmioglu, Science Project Officer at EC JRC stressed that “making use of earthquake or volcano early warning systems for less than 1 minute tsunami warning has the potential to reduce the early-warning time drastically. In addition, such integrated and multi-disciplinary systems could provide a solid framework for their sustainability - also in terms of economic efficiency. Hence, we need to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach and promote such integrated systems to ensure the availability and the effectiveness of “last mile” multi-hazard early warning systems for enhanced coastal community disaster resilience”. Mr Denis Chang Seng, Technical Secretary of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the NEAMTWS, emphasised that “the joint workshop draws on important technical and operational questions discussed in the last two years within the ICG/NEAMTWS setting, concerning the development of national to local TEWS, and the initiative will help to address them’’.
From top to bottom and left right: EC JRC Crisis room; Maurizio Ripepe, University of Florence, Italy, presenting on the Stromboli Volcano TEWS; group picture of the workshop in person participants. Photographs credit: EC JRC (Group photo) and UNESCO.
A report on global Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS) and remaining challenges was provided by Mr Bernardo Aliaga, acting Head of Tsunami Unit. He highlighted that “the community has gone a long way to build a solid early warning system in place for tsunami, but there are remaining challenges. The United Nations Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme (ODTP) will help address these challenges’’. A symposium is planned next year to help refine actions.
The workshop was also an opportunity to learn on the progress of the joint IOC-UNESCO and DG-ECHO CoastWAVE project; the operational status, key achievements, challenges and key lessons learned of Tsunami Service Provider (e.g. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV, Italy) in the NEAM region and in the Indian ocean (Indonesian Tsunami Warning System, InaTEWS). Both INGV TSP (NEAM) and InaTEWS (Indian Ocean) are striving towards integrating local volcano detection and early warning systems, for example in Stromboli and Krakatau within the regional/national system to better detect, monitor and respond to non-seismic tsunami sources.
The workshop concluded that despite the advances in the upstream component of the TEWS, more efforts are required to accurately characterize tsunami sources and reduce uncertainties in tsunami warning, and holistically address requirements, challenges and opportunities of effective local tsunami warning in the multi-hazard disaster risk mitigation context by seeking synergies among different early warning systems and methodologies designed and operationalized for different types of natural hazards.
The workshop was attended by a total of seventy expert participants, thirty in person and forty in hybrid.
Setting a Benchmark for the Development of Tsunami Standard Operating Procedures through CoastWAVE Project
On 5 October 2022, IOC-UNESCO EU-DG ECHO CoastWAVE project partners held their first workshop on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and the connected seas (NEAM) region. At the end of this workshop, participants were better equipped to advance the development of national SOPs for tsunamis in their respective country and the implementation of UNESCO IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme. The workshop was organized in partnership with the European Commission, Joint Research Center (EC-JRC) at the JRC office located in Ispra, Italy. The Technical Secretary of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) / NEAMTWS, Dr. Denis Chang Seng welcomed participants and said “Several workshops and training have been carried out over the years by IOC-UNESCO and partners in the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean to support the development of tsunami Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the workshop will set a benchmark for tsunami Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) development in the NEAM region within the context of the CoastWAVE project by sharing experiences and lessons learned from the Pacific, Indian and Caribbean tsunami early warning and mitigation systems”.
Dr. Derya Vennin, project coordinator and Associate Project Officer of IOC UNESCO elaborated on the roles and responsibilities of actors across the end-to-end tsunami warning chain based on the Manual and Guidelines 76 of IOC. She underscored that “SOPs should be established at each stage and for each stakeholder along the end-to-end tsunami warning chain” and she also added:
“SOPs aim to achieve productivity and high-quality performance while reducing the risk of miscommunication, and non-compliance between stakeholders.”
From left to right (standing): Rick Bailey, Ignacio Aguirre Ayerbe, Amr Hamouda, Didem Cambaz, Ahmet Cevdet Yalciner, Suzan M. El-Gharabawy, Denis Chang Seng, Nikos Kalligeris, Pauline Galea, Sylvana Pilidou (sitting): Khalid El Khalidi, Bernardo Aliaga, Derya Vennin, Esmeralda Borja Aviles, Daniele Alberto Galliano, Ocal Necmioglu. Photo Credit: Piero Cruciaiti
Mr Bernardo Aliaga, Technical Secretary of the ICG Pacific and Caribbean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Systems (PTWS and CARIBE EWS), Mr Rick Bailey, Technical Secretary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) and Mr Denis Chang Seng, shared information and practical exercises to the project participants on SOPs development.
The project partners from Cyprus (Geological Survey Department of Cyprus), Egypt (National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries), Greece (National Observatory of Athens), Malta (Department of Geosciences), Morocco (Laboratory of Marine Geosciences and Sciences), Spain, (Environmental Hydraulics Institute), and Turkey (Middle East Technical University and Bogazici University) presented their existing national and local status of SOPs, which vary from country to country. It was noted that SOPs across the entire tsunami early warning and response system are lacking in NEAM countries. The participants had engaging discussions and exercises concerning national and local SOPs and governing SOPs frameworks and regulations of each representative country. An interesting practical simulation exercise took place, for which, participants learned how to tackle adversities for a potential real tsunami situation, following step-by-step actions of the role of the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) and, Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
All twenty -invited- participants attended the workshop.
Visit the OceanExpert workshop web page for more information, including presentations and activities.
Celebrating Ten Years of Tsunami Early Warning Operations in North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas
Experts met at CENALT (France CENtre d'Alerte aux Tsunami), CEA (Commissariat à L’énergie Atomique et Aux énergies Alternatives), France on 29-30 September to celebrate the ten-years operations of CENALT. NOA (Greece) and KOERI (Turkey) are also celebrating ten years of operation. Dr Stéphane Le Garrec, Head of the Department Analyse, Surveillance, Environment (DASE), CEA welcomed all participants and highlighted CENALT operations in CEA since 2012. Dr Hélène Hébert, CEA and Tsunami Warning Focal Point of France lead the organization of the scientific workshop.
Credit; CENALT, CEA
The workshop was also an opportunity to discuss the recent hazard shocks and scientific knowledge concerning the Tonga volcanic explosion and generated tsunamis (explained as a fast-moving atmospheric “source” published in Nature (Omira et al., 2022)), tsunami risk prevention and local preparedness, scientific networks and data processing for warning chain and monitoring, scientific issues for better warning and hazard assessment, and improved understanding of coastal impacts.
INGV (Italy), KOERI, and IPMA (Portugal) also reported on their achievements and plans. KOERI, Turkey for example plans to install twenty new sea level stations in the Marmara region to improve the detection and monitoring of coastal hazards in the next coming years. UNESCO-IOC provided oversight of achievements, challenges, as well as strategy and actions, including CoastWAVE project intervention to advance the transformation of the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (NEAMTWS) to address tsunami risk in the North-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas.
Presently, the CoastWAVE project is moving towards community implementation, after taking some period to finalize partner agreements. A Sea Level Related Hazards Risk Perception Survey will be conducted next, in project countries.
Dr Matthieu Péroche, University of Montpellier reported that the City of Cannes, France is close to completing all twelve indicators of the UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready. Cannes is striving to become the first city in France to be recognized as UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready. Other communities across the NEAM region are also progressing to become Tsunami Ready, the goal is to have at least 7 to 10 recognized communities by 2024.
Since it became operational in 2012, CENALT has received approximately 72 bulletins, including 7 tsunamis with sea level variations. CENALT recorded a magnitude 6 earthquake event on 18 March, 2021 which took place in North Algeria. This is the first tsunami ever recorded by CENALT since it became operational in the NEAM region.
Experts are working on how to further improve the rapid determination of earthquake-tsunami source parameters in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The workshop brought discussions on other scientific issues, including probabilistic tsunami forecasting for early warning, and improved decision-making process in the NEAM region.
The five accredited ICG/NEAMTWS TSPs meet two days before the scientific workshop to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the regional centres, including plans to conduct the fifth regional exercise in 2023 (NEAMWave23).
The workshop was attended by forty-three experts.
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.
The ICG/NEAMTWS XVIII Session to Take Place in the First Quarter of 2023
The ICG/NEAMTWS XVIII session has been postponed to the first quarter of 2023. The event will take place in UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France.
More information will be provided in the following weeks, in preparation to the meeting.
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