The Though Tsunamis are rare, they are among the most devastating natural disasters. The 2004 tsunami caused by an earthquake of magnitude 9.1 off the West coast of Sumatra, Indonesia was the worst natural disaster in the history, killing around 2,30,000 people along the coast of the Indian Ocean. In 1960, the Chilean tsunami was generated by huge earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the largest recorded magnitude that caused substantial damage not only along the coast of South America but also around the Pacific Ocean. The huge casualties in the case of the Indian Ocean Tsunami were especially due to the absence of early warning systems in the region at that time. A lesson learnt from the past experiences is that “Disaster mitigation has to start from people’s understanding of the disasters”. Tsunami education and preparation are necessary to ensure people are aware of the tsunami risk in their community and know how to recognize natural cues, such as the tremors of a tsunami triggering earthquake and unusual receding of the sea, exposing sea bed etc.
As tsunamis know no coastal borders, the international cooperation is the key for reducing tsunami risk. In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day to promote a global culture of tsunami awareness.
Realizing the devastating potential of tsunamis, Government of India directed the Ministry of Earth Sciences to set up an early warning system within the earliest possible time at INCOIS. The National Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), set up at INCOIS, is operational since October 2007 and has been issuing accurate tsunami advisories for all under-sea earthquakes of M ≥ 6.5. Established a decade ago as an interim tsunami warning centre, it has become a world class tsunami warning centre, in no the time, with a real-time network of seismic stations, tsunami buoys, tide gauges and 24 X 7 operational warning centre to detect tsunami-genic earthquakes, to monitor sea-level changes and to provide timely advisories to vulnerable community. The state-of-the-art Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre act not only as a national nodal agency for tsunami advisories, but also it has become one of the Tsunami Service Providers responsible for providing tsunami services to the Indian Ocean rim countries. Since its inception, the Centre has detected 475earthquakes of M > 6.5 in the world’s oceans and 68 earthquakes in the Indian Ocean and also issued the appropriate warnings / advisories to the concerned authorities.
That, the Warning Centre, disseminates the tsunami advisories to various stakeholders through multiple dissemination modes, simultaneously (Fax, Phone, Emails, GTS and SMS etc). The Earthquake information, the tsunami bulletins as well as real-time sea level observations are also made available on a dedicated website www.tsunami.incois.gov.in for officials, the public and media. The users can also register on the website for receiving earthquake alerts and tsunami bulletins through the emails and SMS. The ITEWC also assists all coastal states through education programmes and regular tsunami communication and evacuation exercises, increasing the coordination, readiness for and understanding of tsunamis among stakeholders with special emphasis on school children and other coastal communities around the nation.
The Warning Centre is constantly evolving with new strategies by focussing its efforts towards development of new methodologies and warning procedures. The future work is focussed towards sea level inversion, real-time inundation modelling, the use of near-field GPS measurements for real-time rupture characterization and 3D mapping of vulnerable coastal areas.
Hence, to commemorate the occasion of World Tsunami Awareness Day, INCOIS is conducting the following activities:
1. Open day for school children on 5th and 6th November 2017
2. A flyer on world tsunami awareness day
3. Tsunami Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) workshop on 8 November 2017 State Disaster Management Officers of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry including officers of navy, coast guard, NDRF. As part of the workshop, a tabletop exercise will be conducted at INCOIS, Hyderabad. During this event, a hypothetical earthquake event will be introduced and an emergency situation will be simulated to elicit constructive discussions from the participants to enhance their plans, policies and procedures.
4. National Tsunami Mock Drill for the east coast of India on 24 November 2017
5. A Tsunami Training programme for Pacific Island Countries: As part of global coordination, India agreed to enhance its support in strengthening of efforts on disaster risk reduction and preparedness amongst Pacific Island Countries. Accordingly, INCOIS has arranged a training programme for 14 Pacific Island Countries on “Early Warning System for Oceanic Disaster and Mitigation with Special Emphasis on Tsunamis” during 20-25 November 2017. This training of the trainers programme is designed to enhance the participants’ abilities to support their organizational preparedness and response oceanic hazards with special emphasis on tsunamis.
