Tsunami warning

The first steps towards a tsunami warning system for the North-Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and connected seas, will be taken this week at a meeting to be held in Rome.

The meeting is being organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), which established the tsunami warning system for the Pacific and, over the past year, has coordinated the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.

The Rome meeting will be the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) established at the IOC’s General Assembly last June.

The ICG has the responsibility of managing the system. It is made up of representatives from IOC Member States in the region, whose immediate task will be to assess present detection facilities and explore ways of coordinating a single, regional system. The ICG will also begin work on guidelines for coastal planning and management.

ICG members contributing major systems and technology to the project will report on their progress in areas such as: plans for observing instrumentation; communications equipment, data systems and warning centres.