NewsWhore
03-22-2011, 03:40 PM
The National Weather Service (ONAMET) is coordinating the Dominican participation in the regional exercise Caribe Wave 11. The exercise seeks to rehearse the coordinated tsunami warning system in place for the Caribbean. Gloria Ceballos, director of ONAMET, said the exercise will take place tomorrow and should not cause alarm. The intention is to test the alert response of national emergency services.
Ceballos says everyone who lives in coastal zones should evacuate as soon as an earthquake occurs.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova says the earthquake and tsunami in Japan showed how essential the alert systems are. "In this context, the development of a coordinated system in the Caribbean is more relevant than ever, enabling coastal countries to prepare in the event of such a disaster and to save human lives," she said, as reported in the Jamaica Observer.
Caribbean countries will receive an alert concerning a fictitious earthquake of magnitude 7.6 off the coast of the American Virgin Islands. The bulletins will be issued by the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (US) for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach (Hawaii, US) for the rest of the area.
The exercise aims to test the effectiveness of alert, monitoring and warning systems among all the emergency management organizations throughout the region.
Over the last 500 years, 75 tsunamis have occurred in the Caribbean, according to the UNESCO, killing more than 3,500 people in the region since the mid-19th century. The most recent was known to happen in 1877 affecting the US Virgin Islands.
The UNESCO stresses that population growth and tourism in coastal areas has further heightened the vulnerability of the Caribbean.
Participating countries include: Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France (Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Martin, Guyane), Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Curacao and Sint Marteen), Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos) and the United States.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)
Ceballos says everyone who lives in coastal zones should evacuate as soon as an earthquake occurs.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova says the earthquake and tsunami in Japan showed how essential the alert systems are. "In this context, the development of a coordinated system in the Caribbean is more relevant than ever, enabling coastal countries to prepare in the event of such a disaster and to save human lives," she said, as reported in the Jamaica Observer.
Caribbean countries will receive an alert concerning a fictitious earthquake of magnitude 7.6 off the coast of the American Virgin Islands. The bulletins will be issued by the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (US) for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach (Hawaii, US) for the rest of the area.
The exercise aims to test the effectiveness of alert, monitoring and warning systems among all the emergency management organizations throughout the region.
Over the last 500 years, 75 tsunamis have occurred in the Caribbean, according to the UNESCO, killing more than 3,500 people in the region since the mid-19th century. The most recent was known to happen in 1877 affecting the US Virgin Islands.
The UNESCO stresses that population growth and tourism in coastal areas has further heightened the vulnerability of the Caribbean.
Participating countries include: Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France (Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Martin, Guyane), Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Curacao and Sint Marteen), Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos) and the United States.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)