This Thursday, March 17, Haiti participates in the regional tsunami warning exercise "Caribe Wave 16", alongside thirty countries and territories in the Caribbean. During this exercise, the actors in the region responsible for Emergency Management will test the early warning system for tsunamis and other coastal hazards set up in 2005 under the aegis of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

This regional exercise will simulate a fictitious earthquake, large-scale, off the coast of Venezuela and another, off the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The Tsunami Warning Center Pacific (PTWC) will send fictitious messages to participating countries in order to cause their reactions.

In Haiti, the Civil Protection Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities, will use the exercise to test the new procedures of standard operations for tsunami warning in effect from 1 March 2016 to deal with this kind of natural event.

Recall that three simulation exercises have already been achieved in Haiti in 2012 and 2014 with the evacuation of over 5,000 people. Of road signs have been installed in more exposed areas and Haiti currently has an observations and operations Centre of marine data (Codomar) and three tide gauges for monitoring sea and early warning of tsunami.

HL/ HaitiLibre