USGS/IOC Seismology and Tsunami Warning (IOTWS/PTWS), Thailand, 15-22 May 2006

Strengthening Tsunami Warning Operations and Standard Operating Procedures

Thailand
15-22 May 2006

The December, 2004, Tsunami highlighted the need to increase capacity building in the countries most severely affected by the international disaster. In response to this need, the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS) Program, under the framework of the IOC, was developed in order to create “tsunami resilient” communities in the Indian Ocean region. An Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the IOTWS was established in June 2005 under the governance of the IOC of UNESCO coordinate activities to support the regional aspects of tsunami warning and mitigation. This IOTWS Program has several components including technical assistance, regional hazard detection, prediction, and warning formulation, national dissemination and communication of warnings, local knowledge and preparedness to act, and regional or sub-regional exchange of lessons learned and best practices.

This training program in Seismology and Tsunami Warning is an integral part of the IOTWS effort to provide technical assistance to Thailand using an “end-to-end” approach. This approach involves providing assistance in all stages of hazard mitigation, from identifying earthquakes and tsunamis to disseminating a warning to the public. The particular focus of this course will be to provide a solid background in seismology, relevant for developing a tsunami warning system. With this information, participants will, in turn, be expected to educate other members of the Thai community, or be actively engaged in tsunami warning system efforts.

The learning format of this course will be through a series of lectures and hands-on learning during practical sessions. All lectures will either be copied to CD’s available for distribution at the end of the course, or available on the Web one week after the completion of the Program. In addition, this Handbook contains information on the key aspects of the course, and is designed to provide supplemental material to the lectures..

 Informational Documents