Regional Training for South China Sea Countries, PTWS PTWC Enhanced Products, 16-20 December 2013

Regional Training Workshop:
Strengthening Standard Operating Procedures for Tsunami Warning and the use of the ICG/PTWS PTWC New Enhanced Tsunami Products

16-20 December 2013
Beijing, China

Hosted by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) of China

The ITIC and the PTWC, along with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Tsunami Unit and the Japan Meteorological Agency, conducted regional training on Strengthening Standard Operating Procedures for Tsunami Warning and the use of the ICG/PTWS PTWC New Enhanced Tsunami Products, December 16-20, 2013, in Beijing. The Training was hosted by the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center (NMEFC) of the China State Oceanic Administration (SOA). The training invited participants from the National Tsunami Warning Centers and National Disaster Management Offices of ICG/PTWS (including Tsunami National Contacts (TNC) and Tsunami Warning Focal Points (TWFP)) for Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation.

The ITIC, a partnership of NOAA and the IOC and operated by the NOAA NWS Pacific Region since 1965, has served as a primary resource assisting countries to build and strengthen their tsunami warning systems. This training supported ITIC’s mission and commitment to strengthen the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.

This 1-week training workshop will cover essential topics involved in end-to-end tsunami warning. In event time, the topics include event monitoring and detection, threat evaluation and warning, alert dissemination, emergency response, evacuation, and public action. An effective tsunami warning system is achieved when all people in vulnerable coastal communities are prepared to respond appropriately and in a timely manner upon recognizing that a potential destructive tsunami may be approaching. Meeting this challenge requires round the-clock monitoring with real-time data streams and rapid alerting, as well as prepared communities, a strong emergency management system, and close and effective cooperation between all stakeholders. Stakeholders must be able to work in coordination and with good understanding of each other’s roles, responsibilities, authorities, procedures, and action during a tsunami event. Planning and preparedness, and practicing in advance of the real event, are important to familiarize agency staff with the steps and decision-making that will need to be carried out without hesitation in a real emergency. In this context, the Training emphasizes the development of sound tsunami warning and emergency response standard operating procedures (SOPs) as a key requirement for successful end-to-end warning. The Training will focus on understanding and interpreting the new PTWC Enhanced Tsunami Products and the Japan Meteorological Agency products for national use. The new PTWC products were approved by the ICG/PTWS-XXV (September 2013) for changeover on 1 October 2014.

Informational Documents