This Wednesday, Haiti participates in an exercise of tsunami alert on a large scale, involving 30 countries [Haiti, the Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Saba, St. Eustatius, Curaçao and Sint Maarten), Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, United States, France (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Guyana), Grenada, Guatemala, British Guiana, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Nicaragua, Panama, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos)] from the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions. This is the second event of this magnitude, organized in the region, since Japan was hit by such an event in March 2011.

This simulation exercise will test the warning system for tsunamis and other coastal hazards in the Caribbean Sea and adjacent regions that the countries in the region have established in 2005 in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the Organization of the United Nations educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

The exercise scenario - called Caribe Wave/Lantex 13 - will simulate a major earthquake generating a tsunami 92 km north of Oranjestad, Aruba, in the Caribbean Sea, March 20, 2013 at 9:00 am (Atlantic Standard Time).

Caribe Wave/Lantex 13 will thus simulate a widespread monitoring and tsunami alert which will require the implementation of local plans for response throughout the Caribbean. This test is designed to determine whether the countries in the region are ready to intervene in case there would be a major.

A manual given to participants, describes the scenario and contains the reports from the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) and that of Pacific (PTWC). Past experiences have shown the crucial importance of rapid transmission of information.

Currently, WCATWC is responsible for issuing alerts for the Atlantic coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Atlantic coast of Canada. PTWC, which is the regional provider of information on this type of event, alert other countries of the Caribbean, including Haiti, and adjacent regions.

Through SNGRD, Haiti works to mitigate this risk through in particular awareness in schools, the development of inundation maps for coastal cities and the organization of evacuation exercises.

anks to funding from the European Community Humanitarian Office ECHO, Unesco/COI helps countries to strengthen this awareness at both the institutional and community levels. For example, two training on the standard operating procedures were carried out, one in Port-au-Prince (for 80 recipients) and the other in Cap-Haitien (for 70 beneficiaries).

HL/ HaitiLibre