Resumen

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group 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.

At its 15th session (online, 27–29 April 2021), ICG/CARIBE-EWS, recommended that Exercise CARIBE WAVE 22 take place on 10 March 2022 at 14:00:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).  The following two hypothetical scenarios will be used in this exercise:

• A tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake located on the Western Muertos Trough.
• A tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake located along the North Panama Deformed Belt.

For CARIBE WAVE 22, each Member State needs to select one scenario and complete the online survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CW22_ScenarioSelection by 25 February 2022. In light of current implications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is up to every country to decide at what scale the exercise will be carried out.

The objectives of this exercise are to: (i) evaluate communications between Regional Tsunami Service Provider and Members States/Territories; and (ii) evaluate the tsunami procedures and programmes within Members States/Territories. Regular exercising of response plans is critical to maintain readiness for an emergency. Exercise CARIBE WAVE 22 also contributes to the UN Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme goal of 100% of communities at risk from tsunamis are prepared and resilient to tsunamis (see IOC Decision  IOC/A-31/3.4.1. Warning Mitigation Systems for Ocean Hazards).

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) will issue an initial dummy message on 10 March 2022 at 14:00 UTC and disseminate it through all standard Tsunami Warning Centre broadcast channels. This dummy message will be issued to test communications with Tsunami Warning Focal Points (TWFPs) and National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWC). The message will start the exercise. As of 14:07 UTC, the PTWC will send by email the simulated tsunami products to officially designated TWFPs and NTWCs according to the chosen scenario. Each TWFP/NTWC will decide if and how to disseminate the messages within their area of responsibility. In cases where a Member State would have not indicated its preferred scenario, PTWC will decide on one of the two scenarios and will start the exercise with all CARIBE-EWS Member States.

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. CARIBE Wave exercises are a means for emergency responders throughout the Caribbean and adjacent regions to test and update their tsunami response plans. The participant handbook with details of the exercise will be available online at http://www.caribewave.info. Additional information relevant to the exercise will also be posted on this link in due course.

For CARIBE WAVE 22, the ICG/CARIBE-EWS decided to continue to use TsunamiZone (http://tsunamizone.org/caribbean) for the registration of participants to the exercise. Participants will be able to sign up as of January 2022 and will receive a participation confirmation email. The information posted on this site will be publicly available. Emergency Management Organizations (EMOs) and exercise coordinators are encouraged to promote registration on this site. For CARIBE WAVE 21, over 300 000 participants registered through TsunamiZone.

Online orientation seminars for participants in English, Spanish and French are scheduled on 18–20 January and 15–17 February 2022. The fast registration links to the seminars are available at https://www.weather.gov/ctwp/caribewave22 .

As an additional planning tool, the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC) provides videos on the PTWC Enhanced Products and Staging for the Caribbean and Pacific in English, Spanish and French at https://vimeo.com/showcase/8956022 (Request Password to christa.vonh@noaa.gov).

For further information on the exercise, please contact Dr Elizabeth A Vanacore, Chair of the Task Team CARIBE WAVE  2 (elizabeth.vanacore@upr.edu), Ms Alison Brome, Caribbean Tsunami Information Center (CTIC) (email: a.brome@unesco.org), Ms Christa G. von Hillebrandt-Andrade, Deputy Director Caribbean Office of the International Tsunami Information Center (christa.vonh@noaa.gov), and/or the Technical Secretary ICG/CARIBE-EWS, Mr Bernardo Aliaga (b.aliaga@unesco.org). You are also encouraged to disseminate copies of this letter to appropriate organizations and authorities within your country.