10 DEADLIEST TSUNAMIS

10 Deadliest Tsunamis in Living Memory

The idea of the earth tearing itself apart is terrifying enough, but the devastation that earthquakes cause is only intensified by the huge waves that can follow a massive seismic disturbance in the ocean bed. Often, coastal inhabitants have just minutes to flee to higher ground, and any delay can cause shocking casualties.

In the last 50 years our ability to investigate, predict and record tsunamis has reached new heights, but the devastation these unstoppable walls of water can cause has also become ever more evident. Here we list the ten most catastrophic tsunamis in recent memory.

10. 1964 Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami

March 27, 1964 was Good Friday, but the Christian day of worship was interrupted by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake — the most violent ever recorded in North American history. The resultant tsunamis devastated the western North American coastline (as well as hitting Hawaii and Japan), causing the deaths of 121 people in locations as far apart as Alaska and California. Waves were recorded at heights of up to 100 feet, and a 27-foot tsunami obliterated the tiny Alaskan village of Chenega, killing 23. The earthquake also caused permanent changes to the geography of the region, with areas of land in Alaska dropping up to 8 feet.

9. 2009 Samoa Earthquake and Tsunami

In 2009, the Samoan Islands experienced an 8.1 magnitude earthquake just minutes before 7am on the 29th of September. At their highest, the waves from the resulting tsunami were measured at 45 feet, and they traveled up to a mile inland in places, swallowing up villages and causing widespread destruction. Samoa, Tonga and American Samoa recorded 189 casualties, many of them children, but further loss of life was avoided due to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which gave people time to evacuate to higher ground.

8. 1993 Hokkaido Earthquake and Tsunami

On July 12th, 1993, 80 miles off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake sundered the earth. The Japanese authorities responded quickly, issuing a tsunami warning, but the small island of Okushiri was beyond help. Just minutes after the earthquake, the island was bombarded by gigantic waves — some of which reached a staggering 100 feet in height. It was too much for the island’s tsunami barriers, and certain areas were struck by a barrage of multiple waves. One hundred and ninety seven of the earthquake and tsunami’s 250 casualties were inhabitants of Okushiri (Hokkaido and southeastern Russia were also affected) although lives were saved by memories of the 1983 tsunami that had struck the island 10 years before, prompting a swifter evacuation.

7. 1979 Tumaco Earthquake and Tsunami

Just seconds before 8am on December 12th, 1979, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 began to rumble off Colombia and Ecuador’s Pacific coast. The tsunami that followed swept away six fishing villages and destroyed much of the city of Tumaco, as well as several other Colombian coastal towns. In total, 259 people were confirmed dead, while 798 were injured and 95 were never heard from again.

6. 2006 Java Earthquake and Tsunami

On July 17th, 2006, the seabed near Java, Indonesia was rocked by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The 22-foot-high tsunami slammed into the Indonesian coast, including a 100-mile stretch of Java that had been lucky enough to be left unscathed by the 2004 tsunami. Waves penetrated over a mile inland, leveling buildings in places such as the beach resort of Pangandaran. All told, at least 668 people lost their lives, 65 were declared missing, and more than 9,000 others required hospital treatment for their injuries in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami.

5. 1998 Papua New Guinea Earthquake and Tsunami

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the north coast of Papua New Guinea on the 17th July, 1998 would not normally have been expected to cause such a devastating tsunami. However, the earthquake triggered a large undersea landslide, which in turn generated waves up 49 feet tall and averaging 34 feet in height. When the tsunami hit the coast, it caused at least 2,183 deaths — with a further 500 people missing — and made some 10,000 inhabitants homeless. Numerous villages were extensively damaged, while others, such as Arop and Warapu, were completely destroyed. If there was one positive to be drawn from the disaster, it was that it gave scientists a valuable insight into the threat of undersea landslides and the unexpected tsunamis they can cause, hopefully allowing lives to be saved in the future.

4. 1976 Moro Gulf Earthquake and Tsunami

In the early hours of August 16th, 1976, the small island of Mindanao in the Philippines was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.9. The earthquake caused an enormous tsunami that smashed into over 433 miles of coastline, where inhabitants were unaware of the danger and the need to escape to high ground. Thousands of victims were sucked out to sea. Overall, 5,000 people lost their lives, with a further 2,200 reported missing, 9,500 injured and over 90,000 inhabitants left homeless. Cities and provinces throughout the North Celebes Sea area of the Philippines were devastated by the tsunami, the waves of which reached 15 feet high, and it is considered among the country’s worst ever natural disasters.

3. 1960 Valdivia Earthquake and Tsunami

In 1960, the world experienced the strongest earthquake since we began recording such events. On May 22nd, the 9.5 magnitude Great Chilean Earthquake began off the southern coast of central Chile, causing a volcanic eruption and a devastating tsunami. Waves up to 82 feet high pummeled local areas, while a tsunami also sped across the Pacific, with the first wave hitting land at Hilo, Hawaii around 15 hours after the quake began, killing 61 people. Seven hours later the waves hit the coast of Japan, causing the deaths of a further 142. As many as 6,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives due to the quake and tsunami.

2. 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

While all tsunamis are dangerous, the 2011 Tohuku Tsunami that struck Japan could have the farthest reaching consequences of all. On March 11th, waves of 33 feet were recorded following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake — though some reports list terrifying heights of up to 133 feet, with waves traveling 6 miles inland — as well as a colossal 97-foot wave that smashed into the coastal city of Ofunato. Some 125,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and transport infrastructure also took a heavy beating. While the large number of people killed or missing — some 25,000 — was terrible enough, the earthquake and resultant tsunami also damaged the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, causing meltdown and a disaster at the highest level of the International Nuclear Event Scale. The full ramifications of this nuclear disaster are still unclear, but radiation has been detected 200 miles from the plant.

1. 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami

The world was stunned by the deadly tsunami that struck countries circling the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004, with $14 billion subsequently given in humanitarian aid. The tsunami was the most lethal ever to have occurred, with a death toll that reached a staggering figure of over 230,000, affecting people in 14 countries – with Indonesia the worst hit, followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The massive undersea earthquake had a magnitude of up to 9.3, and the deadly waves it triggered were up to 98 feet high. Massive tsunamis swamped various coastlines as quickly as 15 minutes later and as long as 7 hours after the initial quake. Despite having hours to prepare for the impact of the waves in some places, the lack of a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean led to many densely populated coastal areas being taken by surprise. That said, some spots were saved by the input of local folklore and even by the knowledge of children who had learned about tsunamis in school, factors which enabled people to recognize and act upon the early warning signs.

 http://media.brainz.org/

MEMORIAL OF OBLIVION

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THAT

SHABBY AND SHODDY CULTURE OF REMEMBRANCE

IN THE WEST AND THE EAST: 

AFTER THE TSUNAMI MASSACRE 2004

AND A SHORT DEBATE BY GOVERNMENTS ABOUT THE CREATION OF A WORLDWIDE COVERUP, A FURTHER CONSENSUS HAS BEEN REACHED WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE PARLIAMENTS ON THE CREATION OF A NEW MEMORIAL CULTURE CALLED

TSUNAMI WALL OF SILENCE. 

THIS IS ALSO A REFERENCE TO THE  BARBARIAN CULT OF THE FORGETFULNESS BY  THE CRIMINAL AND MORAL BANKRUPT GERMAN AND OTHER WESTERN POLS AND BY THE WHOLE WESTERN LYING PRESS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE 
TSUNAMI WALL OF SILENCE.

Jerzy Chojnowski

Chairman-GTVRG e.V.

www.gtvrg.de

************************************************ 

GERMAN TSUNAMI VICTIMS RESPONSE GROUP

WORKING TO PREVENT MAN-MADE DISASTERS
Anyone can contribute. Donate and help our association. 

Account for Donations:

IBAN: DE74 2007 0021 3892 00, BIC: DEUTDEDBHAM

******************************************************

IOC SESSION MAY 2006

Limited Distribution                                                                         IOC/PTWS-XXI/1 Prov.

                                                                                        Honolulu, 14 March 2006

                                                                                                   Original: English

INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION

(of UNESCO)

Twenty-First Session of the Intergovernmental Co-ordination Group

for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS-XXI)

Melbourne, Australia, 3-5 May 2006

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

1.         OPENING

2.         ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION

3.         PROGRESS IN THE PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

3.1       CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

3.2       NATIONAL REPORTS

3.3       ITIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT

3.4       PTWC DIRECTOR’S REPORT

3.5       JMA DIRECTOR’S REPORT

3.6       IOC TSUNAMI UNIT REPORT

3.7       RECRUITMENT OF NEW MEMBERS TO THE PTWS

3.8       ‘EXERCISE PACIFIC WAVE 06’ TASK TEAM REPORT

3.9       WORKING GROUP 1 REPORT:  SEISMIC MEASUREMENTS DATA COLLECTION AND EXCHANGE

            CTBTO REPORT ON USE OF NETWORK BY PTWC AND JMA

            FDSN/IRIS REPORT - GLOBAL SEISMIC NETWORK

3.10     WORKING GROUP 2 REPORT:  SEA-LEVEL MEASUREMENTS, DATA COLLECTION AND EXCHANGE

            GLOSS REPORT

            DART SEA LEVEL NETWORK REPORT

            XML SEA LEVEL STATION WEB SERVICES REPORT

3.11     WORKING GROUP 3 REPORT:  TSUNAMI HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION

            INTEGRATED TSUNAMI DATABASE PROJECT (ITDB) REPORT

3.12     WORKING GROUP 4 REPORT:  RESILIENCE BUILDING AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

3.13     WORKING GROUP 5 REPORT:  INTEROPERABILITY AND REGIONAL, SUB-REGIONAL AND NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION SYSTEMS IN THE PACIFIC

3.14     OTHER

4.         SUB-REGIONAL PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION SYSTEMS

4.1       NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH CHINA SEA

4.2       WORKING GROUP ON THE CENTRAL AMERICA PACIFIC COAST TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM

4.3       SOUTHWEST PACIFIC

5.         PTWS STRATEGIC PLAN

5.1       PTWS AND IOC’S REORGANIZATION AS FROM 2006

5.2       PTWS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

5.3       WORKING GROUP REPORT ON THE MEDIUM TERM STRATEGY FOR THE PTWS

6.         PTWS CAPACITY BUILDING

6.1       ITSU TRAINING PROGRAMME

6.2       NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS

6.3       OTHER

7.         PTWS INFORMATION SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND AWARENESS TOOLS

7.1       TSUNAMI NEWSLETTER AND TSUNAMI BULLETIN BOARD

7.2       TSUNAMITEACHER

7.3       PUBLICATIONS

7.4       OTHER

8.         OTHER REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION SYSTEMS

8.1       INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION GROUP FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION SYSTEM

8.2       INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION GROUP FOR TSUNAMI AND OTHER COASTAL HAZARDS WARNING SYSTEM FOR THE CARIBBEAN AND ADJACENT REGIONS

8.3       INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION GROUP FOR THE TSUNAMI EARLY WARNING AND MITIGATION SYSTEM IN THE NORTH-EASTERN ATLANTIC, THE MEDITERRANEAN AND CONNECTED SEAS

8.4       FRAMEWORK FOR THE GLOBAL TSUNAMI AND OTHER OCEAN-RELATED HAZARDS EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

8.5       CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER ICGS AND ICG WORKING GROUPS

9.         EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW ONES

9.1       CO-OPERATION WITH THE IUGG TSUNAMI COMMISSION

9.2       CO-OPERATION WITH WORLD DATA CENTRE-A, SOLID EARTH GEOPHYSICS - TSUNAMIS

9.3       COOPERATION WITH SOPAC

9.4       CO-OPERATION WITH WMO

9.5       CO-OPERATION WITH JCOMM

9.6       CO-OPERATION WITH ISDR

9.7       OTHER

10.       PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE PROJECTS

11.       REPORT OF SWGs

12.       OTHER BUSINESS

13.       PROGRAMME AND BUDGET FOR 2006-2007

14.       DATES AND PLACE FOR ICG/PTWS-XXII

15.       ELECTION OF 2ND VICE-CHAIR

16.       ADOPTION OF THE SUMMARY REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

17.       CLOSURE

*************

Restricted Distribution                                                                                         
 IOC/PTWS-XXI/9; Melbourne, 3 May 2006

                     English only

INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION

(of UNESCO)

  Twenty-First Session of the Intergovernmental Co-ordination Group

          for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS)

                                                       3 – 5 May 2006

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) Director gave his report on activities and changes at PTWC over the intersessional period.  He informed that between October 2005 and April 2006 PTWC issued 12 Tsunami Information Bulletins in response to large earthquakes in the Pacific and 9 Tsunami Information Bulletins in response to earthquakes in Hawaii.  For two of the Pacific events, an Mw=7.1 on 14 November 2005 off the coast of Honshu, Japan, and an Mw=6.8 on 14 March 2005 near Seram, Indonesia, small tsunamis were generated.

The Director pointed out that in response to the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy, and a corresponding increased awareness of potential USA vulnerabilities to this hazard, the PTWC staff has been increased from a total of 8 persons in 2004 to 15 persons as of May 2006.  The extra staff have facilitated 7x24 operations, with one person in the Center and one nearby in a standby status, that began as of April 26, 2006.  These additional staff should also facilitate improved services by the Center in all respects.

Other improvements have taken or are taking place at PTWC in response to the Indian Ocean event.  Seismic, hydroacoustic, and infrasound stations of the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization have been offered to both PTWC and JMA for humanitarian purposes and both PTWC and JMA have begun to receive some of these data.  Coastal sea level stations across the Pacific belonging to many countries and organizations are being upgraded by those bodies to better serve the tsunami warning system.  The USA is now operating 10 Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) instruments in the Pacific with plans to install a total of 32 in the next two years.  Chile is operating one DART with plans for another.  In addition, the seismic network operated by PTWC in Hawaii for local tsunami warning purposes is undergoing a major upgrade.

The PTWC Director then proposed some specific format and language changes to PTWC bulletins to make these products more compatible and coordinated with USA National Weather Service products.  The proposed changes would eliminate the word “Bulletin” from tsunami products and use the word “Statement” for informational products and “Message” for warning products.  The headline line would also be moved more near the top of each product.  After some discussion and concerns expressed by the Group to these changes, the Group decided to form an intersessional Task Team to review the proposed changes, consider additional changes, and solicit input from all Member States on the potential impact of proposed changes.  This Task Team will be Co-Chaired by the PTWS and IOTWS Interoperability Working Group Chairs, and include Japan, USA, Chile, France, Australia, and the Russian Federation.

Lastly, the Director notified the Group that PTWC may move from its current location in Ewa Beach, Hawaii to a new NOAA Facility being planned for Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The target date is 2010.

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Restricted Distribution                                                                                                                                     IOC/PTWS-XXI/8

Melbourne, 3 May 2006

English only

 INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION

(of UNESCO)

              Twentieth-First Session of the Intergovernmental Co-ordination Group

               for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS)

                                                                   3 – 5 May 2006

 REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF

THE INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI INFORMATION CENTRE

ON INTERSESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

1.         INTRODUCTION

During the Intersessional Period, the ITIC continued to strongly support the efforts of the IOC Tsunami 

Programme as the lead Centre for sharing experience and know-how, based on the Pacific, with regions 

starting to implement tsunami warning and mitigation systems in the world’s oceans and marginal seas.

In 2006, the ITIC Director will be seconded to the IOC by the USA NOAA to lead the IOC ITIC, and the ITIC will be formally established as a Programme Office of the IOC through MOU with the USA.  These activities are intended to clearly establish the United Nations attributes of the IOC, and thus allow it to receive full contributions to staffing, visiting internships, and other funding resources to build ITIC as the IOC’s tsunami information resources and focal point for capacity building in support of tsunami mitgation.  Chile continues to support the ITIC Associate Director position, and especially for the focus of tsunami mitigation in Spanish-speaking countries.

2.         MEETINGS ATTENDED BY THE ITIC DIRECTOR DURING THE INTERSESSIONAL PERIOD, OCTOBER 2005 to APRIL 2006

o      The International Training Workshop on Numerical Modeling of Tsunami for Developing Countries in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean, 8-19 November 2005, Philippines. 

o      Indian Ocean Intersessional Working Group on Seismic measurements, data collection, and exchange, 10-11 November 2005, Jakarta, Indonesia.

o      First Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group - NEAMTWS, 21-22 November 2005, Rome, Italy

o      Second Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group – IOTWS, 14-16 December 2005, Hyderabad, India

o      First Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group – CARIBE-EWS, 10-12 January 2006, Barbados

o      Second Coordination Meeting for the USAID Contribution to the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, 29-30 January 2006

o      Exploratory Workshop on Sensor based Infrastructure for Early Tsunami Dectection, Maui, Hawaii, 9-10 February 2006, sponsored by University of Pittsburgh

o      Rethinking Capacity Development for Disaster Risk Reduction:  Action 2005-2015, Global Future Search Meeting, 13-15 February 2006, Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland, sponsored by the UN Development Training Programme

o      Gulf Seismic Forum 2006, Earthquake Studies in the Arabian Plate Region, 19-22 February 2006

Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman

o      IRIS Global Seismic Network Standing Committee Meeting, 8-9 March 2006, Washington, DC

o      PTWC-JMA-ITIC Coordination Meeting in support of the NWPTAC expansion into the South  China Seas Region, 14 March 2006, Ewa Beach, Hawaii

o      Pacific Ocean Intersessional Working Group on Seismic measurements, data collection, and exchange, 15-16 March 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii.

 

o      UNESCAP Thailand Trust Fund Briefing Seminar and Advisory Council Meeting, 28 March 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

o      IOC-USGS Seismology Training, 3-7 April 2006, Colombo, Sri Lanka

o      Malaysia-IOC International Round-Table Dialogue on Earthquake and Tsunami Risks in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea Region, 27-28 April 2006, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

PROGRESS IN PTWS-XX DECISION IMPLEMENTATION

The ITIC Director continued to work during the intersession on action items from PTWS-XX, as summarized below.

3.         GLOBAL INTEGRATED HISTORICAL DATABASE

The ITIC continues to facilitate the interactions between the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory (NTL) and the World Data Center - SEG / National Geophysical Data Center with the goal of merging the two existing databases into one high-quality database with a high degree of quality control on the validity of the included data.  Further progress during the intersessional period has been made.  The NTL has concentrated on deploying an offline, PC-standalone application with user-friendly graphical controls and included the option for tsunami travel time calculations and display of time contours, and the NGDC has concentrated on a online, web-based, GIS-based application complemented by an extensive forms-based search capability.

The ITIC Director strongly believes the following:

·       that only one database should exist, and as agreed previously by the parties, that the database be housed at the WDC-SEG;

·       that distributed versions of the data include only those data that are deemed highly accurate, or that the data that is included be assigned a validity according to an agreed-upon standardized validity criteria;

·       that both the online, web-based, and the offline applications use the SAME, IDENTICAL databases to avoid confusion and thus possibly misinterpretation.

4.         PTWS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The PTWS Communications Plan was updated, with inclusion of the Northwest Pacific Tsunami Advisory Handbook that expands coverage into the South China Sea, and widely disseminated starting in April 2006.  The current version, which excludes 7x24 Tsunami Warning Focal Point information, can be found at http://ioc3.unesco.org/ptws/PTWS-XXI_working_documents.htm

Operational copies are available to authorized agencies directly from the ITIC.

5.         OBSERVATION SYSTEMS

5.1           SEA LEVEL OBSERVATIONS

The ITIC continues to work as a facilitator of activities supporting sea level monitoring for tsunami warning between the PTWC, JMA, GLOSS and the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center.  Recent additions to this partnership network include the Pacific Disaster Center and the IOC IODE Project Office.

In the Indian Ocean, the ITIC and PTWC are working together with the WMO and IOC GLOSS to make sea level data transmitted over the WMO GTS available to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS), and to permit them to decode, display, and manipulate (measure wave height, period) these time series. The PTWC has developed a platform-independent solution which will take a daily log file of data incoming chronologically over the GTS, decode the data file, and plot the time series on an operational computer.  The Tool has been ported to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Maldives, and India

The ITIC welcomes the Indian Ocean effort and hpes that the tool will be enhanced and implemented in the Pacific and globally.

Two back-to-back meetings were held at the IOC IODE Project Office in Belgium to measure progress and the way forward in the development of XML schema for sea level station metadata to support tsunami warning upgrades and monitoring, and the development of capabilities for the ODINAFRICA Sea level Facility in Nairobi, Kenya.  Two Summary Reports accessible from the PTWS web site describe the meeting results, IOC/INF-1226:  Meeting on the Development of a Sea Level Metadata Web Service Demonstrator Project, IOC/INF-1227:  Meeting on the Development of an ODINAFRICA Sea Level Data Facility.

In April 2005, the PTWC and IODE collaborated to make available a non-operational display monitor using data available through the internet. The PTWC, IODE, Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) and the ITIC are working together to build further capabilities, including the use of XML schema to describe a minimum set of station metadata, to support the decode and display of sea level data for tsunami warning monitoring. This prototype is being development for application within the ODINAFRICA project, and will intake an XML Schema for sea level stations in order to efficiently support the continually improving sea level network in coastal Africa.  At the same time, the concepts and application tools should be entirely and relatively easily transportable to the greater Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and elsewhere.  This project is funded in part through a NOAA PRIDE grant to PDC and ITIC.

5.2       SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS

In the Pacific Ocean, an Intersessional Working Group on Seismic measurements, data collection, and exchange has met twice to evaluate the needs of the Pacific.  The ITIC continues to work to ensure there is good communication with the tsunami warning system practitioners, the FDSN, the IRIS Global Seismic Network, the USGS, GEOFON, GEOSCOPE, and other network operators in the Pacific.  The ITIC participates to both the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean Seismic Working Groups.

In Africa, the ITIC is involved in effort with AfricaArray (Penn State University, University of Witwatersrand, Council of Geoscience South Africa) to develop capacity for seismic monitoring.  These activities involve the upgrade of seismic stations  to equip them with broadband sensors with digital archiving and for the real-time sharing of this data stream to the global network supporting tsunami warning earthquake monitoring.  At the same time, the ITIC and IOC support the concepts of AfricaArray to build, through education and advanced degrees, African expertise in the Earth Sciences.

IRIS GLOBAL SEISMIC NETWORK

The PTWC and ITIC continue to maintain good working relationships with the IRIS Global Seismic Network which is providing the critical seismic waveform data for the real-time monitoring of earthquakes globally with data availability close to 90%. 

The ITIC Director was elected for a 3-year term as a member of the Global Seismic Network Standing Committee

6.         TRAINING AND EDUCATION

6.1       ITSU TRAINING PROGRAMME (ITP) - HAWAII

The ITIC carried out a ITP-Hawaii training for participants from the Indonesia Meteorological and Geophysical Agency and the Germany Tsunami Early Warning Project in January 2006.  Six participants spent two weeks learning about the operations of the PTWC, the State and County Emergency Operations, and about other mitigation efforts supporting tsunamis in Hawaii.

The ITIC plans to conduct the regular session of the ITP-Hawaii for the Pacific during the 3^rd quarter of the 2006.

6.2           ITSU TRAINING PROGRAMME (ITP) – INTERNATIONAL

Between 7 and 17 November 2005, the ITIC co-sponsored The International Training Workshop on Numerical Modeling of Tsunami for Developing Countries in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean.  The workshop is a joint effort between the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI) and the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) working group on Subduction Zones Located in Developing Countries, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).  During the 10-day workshop, each participant will be taught how to model tsunami propagation, run up and inundation. The learning format will involved a series of lectures and hands-on computer exercises under the supervision of experts on tsunami modeling.

In 2006, the ITIC is conducting Seismology Trainings in collaboration with the US Geological Survey in Sri Lanka (3-7 April 2006), Indonesia (8-17 May 2006), Thailand (15-22 May 2006), and the Maldives (27-31 August 2006); for these, international scientists are used, as well as experts from the PTWC, GSN, USGS, and other universities.  Two participants from Malaysia are participating to the Indonesia Training.  In conjunction, the ITIC will also conduct Tsunami Warning and Mitigation 3-day Trainings in Indonesia and Thailand; for these, scientists from the PTWC, JMA, and IOC Tsunami unit are involved in order to bring their full experience to benefit the countries directly (and in their home countries).    The Seismology Trainings are planned for 2007 as well with the USGS.

In July 2006, Ecuador will host seismology and tsunami modeling training for its scientists.  ITIC has arranged for Christa von Hillebrandt, Director of the Puerto Seismic Network and Modesto Ortiz of CICESE, Mexico to provide the expert advice.  The ITIC, as funds permit, is encouraging and seeking to provide travel support for the neighboring countries of Chile, Peru and Colombia to join the Ecuador training.

In 2006, the ITIC will organize Trainings in Tsunami Numerical Modeling with the cooperation of the IUGG Tsunami Commission (IUGG-TC) and its Tsunami Numerical Modeling Experts.  See below IUGG-TC report below for more details.

Upon the request of Member States, the ITIC can organize and conduct similar trainings for PTWS Member States.

 

6.3       FUTURE TRAINING PROGRAMME

In 2006, the ITSU Training Programme expanded its focus beyond tsunami warning systems to include specific technical capacity needs such as seismological practices and tsunami numerical modelling.  The ITIC also continues to support the efforts of the RANET Project to bring time-critical tsunami warning information to remote communities through a variety of complementary, sustainable technologies. 

The ITIC welcomes PTWS Member State input into the needs and regquirements for training and the development of capability in the Pacific

COOPERATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

7.       IUGG TSUNAMI COMMISSION

The ITIC is working with IUGG Tsunami Commission Members to organize and teach course in tsunami numerical modeling.  Two courses are planned, with sessions of Course I (UNESCO-IOC International Training Course on Tsunami Numerical Modeling: Course I:  Tsunami  Sources and Tsunami Propagation) being taught 8-19 May 2006 in Malaysia and 5-16 June 2006 in Belgium.  More information can be found at

http://ioc3.unesco.org/ptws/working_groups_other_tsunami_meetings.htm

The target audience is the Indian Ocean, however PTWS Member States have been accepted as participants.  Based on the large applicant response just from the Indian Ocean, the ITIC recognizes that there is a global need and interest for these Training Courses, and will seek ways in which to conduct more Sessions.

Course II will concentrate on tsunami inundation modeling in which tsunami propagation results are continued on to shore using detailed local bathymetry and topography and be taught in the 3^rd quarter of 2006.

8.     ISDR

The ITIC continued to build collaborative working relationships with the ISDR PPEW and Communications Liaison for the Indian Ocean, and has discussed similar activities that can extend into the Pacific.  Currently, the ITIC is working with the ISDR on the following projects:

1. Media awareness building with Asian Broadcasting Union and Japan NHK (focus on Indonesia and Thailand, which are also PTWS members);

2. Participation in ESCAP- ISDR Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Meeting, June, 2006

3. Animated computer game on disaster reduction involving the building of communities and the consequences of design and policy decisions when natural disasters, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, hit. 

9.       WDC-SEG/NGDC

The ITIC, using NOAA PRIDE funding, has purchased the tsunami travel time code used operationally by the PTWC for inclusion in NGDC tsunami products (online and offline).  In turn, the NGDC has produced travel time maps for a selection of historical tsunamis and placed these plots on its web site.  The URL is http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/hazard/tsu_travel_time.shtml

 

10.     SOPAC

The ITIC continues to work collaboratively with the SOPAC Community Risk Programme.  In June 2006, the ITIC is helping to co-sponsor with SOPAC and NOAA a North Pacific Tsunami Awareness Workshop in which tsunami readiness and resiliency will be a focus. 

The ITIC supports the SOPAC Draft Strategy from the 5-6 September 2005 meeting, but wishes to make the following intervention for action:

The ITIC Director Strongly recommends that SOPAC identifies an actual person that will be dedicated to advocate and facilitate tsunami mitigation efforts with SOPAC Member States.  It is felt that a Virtual Centre will not be adequate for sustaining the active, ongoing effort that is needed. 

The person should be able to work on both the technical aspects concerned with sea level and seismic monitoring and evaluation and hazard risk assessment and numerical modelling, and the non-technical aspects of national tsunami response plans, emergency management, communication, preparedness, education, and outreach.

As appropriate, it is recommended that this person spend at least some of the time at the ITIC and PTWC to understand the processes, protocols, and activities which build an effective system.

Possible means of resource mobilization include PTWS Member State secondment, PTWS Member State funding support to the IOC Trust Fund for such a position, and/or SOPAC-generated support through the Pacific Island Forum.  In this regards, attention is called to the Commonwealth Secretariat Report for SIDS Early Warning (8-9 August, Barbados, See Section 3.2.1.c) calling for high-level advocacy and support for the Pacific in regards to tsunami hazard mitigation and preparedness.

11.       ITSU PUBLICATIONS AND AWARENESS TOOLS

            ITIC INFORMATION SERVICES

11.1 LIBRARY

 

Keeping abreast of the events surrounding the Earthquake and Tsunami of 26 December 2004, stretched the limits of the ITIC office and any improvement to the library was secondary to answering a deluge of e-mail and many information requests coming from around the world and the preparation of information and awareness materials for distribution globally.   This was the first global disaster with Internet connectivity and handling the deluge of inquiries while reviewing, indexing, and entering reports, books, and stories into the existing database continues to be very time consuming.  The ITIC library’s goal is to collect and maintain a varied and useful collection of materials for future researchers.  The location and use of materials to satisfy the many different types of information requests remains an objective of the collection.

Collection growth based on donations and one purchase was augmented with web mining and continued indexing of tsunami newsletters, conference proceedings, and articles from journals, newspapers and magazines. The database currently contains 6882 records, approximately 800 more records than a year ago

11.2     TSUNAMI NEWSLETTER

The Tsunami Newsletter continues to be published quarterly.  During the intersessional period, one Newsletter was published.  All issues are available in Adobe PDF-format at the ITIC web site at http://www.tsunamiwave.info. 

11.3     ITSU / ITIC / PTWS WEB SITE

During 2006, the ITIC enabled a PTWS web site in similar format and design to the web sites of the other IOC ICGs.  The PTWS web site URL is http://ioc3.unesco.org/ptws/

The ITIC tsunami information web site continues to be found at http://www.tsunamiwave.info under the ITSU banner where ITIC is the Information Resource of IOC ITSU (International Tsunami).

Later in 2006, the IOC will enable a global tsunami web site, at which time the contents of the ITIC and PTWS web sites will be transferred.

11.4     TSUNAMI BULLETIN BOARD

The ITIC Tsunami Bulletin Board (TBB), which provides email list serve information to more than 320 members, continued to be used as a reliable means of information sharing by tsunami professionals.  The TBB uses Lyris ListManager V.7.0 software maintained by the USA NOAA National Weather Service. 

12.       TSUNAMI AWARENESS AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

12.1     REVISED AND CUSTOMIZEABLE INFORMATIONAL PUBLICATIONS

The ITIC has revised and updated several english-language informational brochures, and has made these available in an electronic format that provides easy translation and localization of graphics.  Additionally, hard copies of existing materials are available for distribution upon request. The electronic files are available for download from the ITIC web site (www.tsunamiwave.info) as both PDF-format and layered Microsoft Word files in which the text and graphics are separated into separate objects for manipulation and customization. 

Newly revised 2006 editions of the following products are available:

·       Great Waves, 2006 edition. 

This booklet was revised to include information about the IOC ICGs

Reference: UNESCO-IOC.  Tsunami.  The Great Waves.  IOC Information document No. . Paris, UNESCO, 2006

·       Tsunami Glossary, 2006 edition.

The Glossary was updated to include information on the recent establishment of global intergovernmental coordination groups for tsunami warning and mitigation, and to include more modern definition of terms.  Reference:  UNESCO-IOC.  Tsunami Glossary.  IOC Information document No. 1221. Paris, UNESCO, 2006.

·       Tsunami Warning!  Reference: UNESCO-IOC.  Tsunami Warning!, IOC Information document No.. Paris, UNESCO, 2005.

·       Tsunami Safety Posters

English posters (11x17 size) are available.  The standard set of information recommended for inclusion is:

ü     What a tsunami is?  How do tsunami act when they come ashore?

ü     What are natural tsunami warning signals?

ü     What should you do when a tsunami warning is issued?

ü     Where do I find out more tsunami information (national, local)?

12.2         EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

In 2006, the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) and the ITIC collaborated on the development of Grade 4-6 Tsunami Educational Materials for use by teachers in Thailand.  Through a series of consultative meetings with Thailand government officials and teachers, existing materials, including those provided by Chile’s textbooks, were adapted in English and translated into Thai for distriution to teachers along the coasts of Thailand.  Upon finalization, these materials will be made available on the ITIC web site.

12.3 TSUNAMITEACHER

The ITIC, with assistance from the Pacific Disaster Center and the aid of a Science Education Writer have developed the TsunamiTeacher Resources Kit of authoritative and reliable materials to support tsunami warning and mitigations.  The tool is housed as a dynamic electronic resource available through the web, and as a 2-DVD set of offline materials.  Phase I will be deployed in mid-May through familiarity trainings in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Kenya, and broadly distributed in June.

13.       CONCLUSION

This report is an overview of what we have been involved in during the intersessional period regarding the ITIC ICG/PTWS activities and the ITIC contributions in support of the implementation of tsunami warning and mitigation systems in the Indian Ocean, north-eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean region.

The ITIC and its staff look forward to providing continued service to the Pacific, and all nations and regions around the world.