PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Emergency Operations Center (EOC)/Office of Disaster Management (ODM), last week participated in CARIBE WAVE 25, the 14th Annual Regional Tsunami Exercise.
The purpose of the exercise is to evaluate local tsunami response plans. The tabletop exercise allowed key government response teams to participate virtually.
The exercise provided an opportunity for the corresponding emergency management organizations to exercise their operational lines of communications, review their tsunami response procedures, and promote tsunami preparedness.
The Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions at its eighth session (ICG/CARIBE EWS-VIII, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 29 April–1 May 2013), decided to conduct tsunami exercises named CARIBE WAVE on an annual basis leaving each Member State to define its level of participation.
There were two hypothetical scenarios developed for the Caribbean region.
The first scenario is a tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake located along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EPGFZ) and the second one was a tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.6 earthquake located approximately 270 km off the Portugal coast.
The ICG/CARIBE-EWS of UNESCO/IOC, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Caribbean Regional Stakeholders (CEPREDENAC, CDEMA, and EMIZA) are providing the framework for this exercise as a means for emergency responders throughout the Caribbean and adjacent regions to test and update tsunami response plans.
There are 48 Member States and Territories, stakeholders, and communities at risk that participate in the annual exercise.
