Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response, Fiji, July 2017

Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response Using the PTWC Enhanced Products for National Tsunami Threat Decision-Making

Suva, Fiji
10-14 July 2017

The training workshop will cover tsunami warning operations and the use of the PTWC Enhanced Products for tsunami threat decision-making, with specific attention on the warning and emergency response plan and standard operating procedures (SOPs) of Fiji. Topics will include warning and response SOPs and challenges, warning decision support tools, warning messages and alerting, evacuation concepts and planning, and awareness strategies. Over the last 10+ years, with improvements in data quality, quantity, and real-time availability, PTWC’s response time has dropped significantly from an hour to 5-10 minutes for tsunami events. At the same time, with each great earthquake and tsunami since 26 December 2004 helping to increase scientific understanding, better techniques have been developed to quickly characterize the earthquake and numerically model the tsunami. In 2014, the PTWC implemented Enhanced Products for the PTWS that now include wave amplitude forecasts in both text and graphical formats, and that require each country to explicitly assign Warning / Watch status in their own messages to their coasts. Accordingly, the goal of this training is to increase the capacity of first responder operational staff to efficiently and effectively respond to tsunamis.

Day 1 will provide a general overview of the Pacific’s tsunami early warning system for all interested stakeholders and customers. Days 2-5 will provide advanced information for warning center and disaster management operational staff, and also include updates and training on tsunami warning decision support tools, such Tide Tool, TTT (Tsunami Travel Time), and TsuCAT (Tsunami Coastal Assessment Tool). Day 5 will review and update Fiji’s Tsunami Implementation Plan based on information received during the training.

 Informational Documents