Summary

The ITP-TEWS Hawaii 2025 training will be conducted by the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC), in collaboration with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and technical and emergency management partners in Hawaii (USA). The ITP-TEWS Hawaii will demonstrate a working example of an end-to-end tsunami warning and mitigation system centered in Hawaii, with PTWC as its tsunami warning centre.  It will follow the same format at the ITP-TEWS Chile 2024, where Chile was used as a working example with the Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (SHOA) as its national tsunami warning centre. ITIC is hosted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (U.S.) and Chile in partnership with UNESCO-IOC. PTWC serves as the primary Tsunami Service Provider (TSP) for the Pacific and the TSP for the Caribbean.

Recognizing that local tsunamis remain the most challenging operation for countries, the 2025 ITP-TEWS Hawaii will focus its training on Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for warning and emergency response as guided by the PTWS National Tsunami Warning Center Minimum Competency Levels (2023) and the Local-Source Tsunami Response Best Practice (2019). The training will also focus on preparedness and will overview tsunami evacuation planning, including inundation and evacuation mapping, response planning and exercising, as indicators for the UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme (IOC Manual and Guides 74, 2022). A goal of the IOC’s Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme is “make 100% of communities at risk of tsunami prepared for and resilient to tsunamis by 2030” through initiatives such as the Tsunami Ready Programme.  Tsunami Survivor Stories and other community awareness building best practices will be shared to demonstrate how these can become a cornerstone for sustaining awareness over generations, especially for saving lives from local tsunamis.  On the last two days, a tsunami exercise will be conducted requiring country decision-making and action using national products supplemented by the PTWC Enhanced Products.

ITP-Hawaii is open primarily to all country members of ICG/PTWS and ICG/CARIBE-EWS. Participants from other regional tsunami warning systems are welcome. During the training, participants are expected to give a 15-minute presentation on their country’s tsunami warning and mitigation system, including their tsunami SOPs and plans for Tsunami Ready.