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NOAA Tsunami Program National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce NOAA Tsunami Program In coordination with the NTHMP, the NWS International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) and ® launched the TsunamiReady program in 2001 to the Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program (CTWP). f all Earth’s natural hazards, tsunamis are For more than 50 years, NOAA and its predecessor help communities prepare for tsunamis through Hosted and staffed by the NWS, the ITIC supports among the most infrequent, yet they pose a agencies have had operational responsibility for the U.S. better planning, education and awareness. The major threat to coastal populations. Although Tsunami Warning System. Today’s end-to-end system program is voluntary, and communities must meet the IOC’s Tsunami Program, which focuses on the O tsunamis cannot be prevented, community preparedness, operates in partnership with federal, state, territorial, certain guidelines to be recognized as TsunamiReady. coordination of tsunami warning and mitigation systems globally, as well as the IOC’s Intergovernmental accurate and timely warnings and effective response can international and local organizations as well as industry. Becoming TsunamiReady can help minimize tsunami- save lives and protect property. The 2004 Indian Ocean Major components include: related losses to a community. As of June 2017, 197 Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS). The ITIC’s tsunami and the 2011 Tohoku, Japan tsunami focused communities across 16 states and territories were world attention on the very real threat of tsunamis and • Observation systems to rapidly detect tsunami recognized as TsunamiReady. responsibilities include monitoring PTWS activities, generating earthquakes and tsunamis, coordinating tsunami warning system technology underscored the value of a comprehensive warning system and an educated public. Great strides have been • Models to forecast tsunami impacts, transfer among PTWS member states, acting as a • Timely and accurate messaging, clearinghouse for risk assessment and mitigation made in improving tsunami warning systems since the 2004 event. • Decision-support services during events to enhance activities and producing tsunami education and community response and preparedness materials. The ITIC also works closely A tsunami is a series of waves created by a large and • Preparedness and mitigation activities that enhance with the World Data System for Geophysics, which is sudden displacement of the ocean. Most tsunamis are response to a tsunami threat and reduce or eliminate hosted by NCEI, on international data stewardship, caused by large earthquakes below or near the ocean potential impacts. product development and outreach. floor, but they can also be caused by landslides, volcanic NOAA’s Tsunami Warning Centers The NWS’s CTWP supports improved tsunami activity, certain types of weather and near-earth objects. observations, provides training and outreach and A tsunami can strike at any time and can be dangerous The NWS operates two tsunami warning centers, education assistance and facilitates data exchange for to life and property when it reaches the shore. It which are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The domestic and international partners in the Caribbean may arrive like a fast-rising flood and can strike with two centers monitor for tsunamis and the earthquakes and adjacent regions. This includes supporting activities devastating force. Tsunami waves can range in size from that may cause them, forecast tsunami impacts and issue of the IOC’s Intergovernmental Coordination Group inches to more than a hundred feet high and can flood tsunami messages. low-lying areas more than a mile inland. The first wave NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) implement for Tsunamis and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions. may not be the largest or most damaging, and the danger the TsunamiReady program in conjunction with state may last for hours or days. and local partners and work with communities to Other NOAA Contributors support their tsunami preparedness efforts. The WFOs NOAA’s Role also support the NOAA Tsunami Program by educating Numerous other NOAA offices and programs also the public, local officials and the media about tsunamis contribute to the work of the NOAA Tsunami Program, The NOAA Tsunami Program is a cross-NOAA and tsunami safety and disseminating tsunami messages providing data, tools, training, technical assistance and cooperative effort to minimize the impacts of tsunamis. issued by the tsunami warning centers. funding. These include the NWS’s International Affairs Administered by the National Weather Service (NWS), Office, OAR’s National Sea Grant College Program, the program leverages the capabilities of other NOAA International Coordination NESDIS’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations, operational line offices, including the Office of Oceanic and NOS’s Office for Coastal Management, National and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the National Ocean The NOAA Tsunami Program plays a vital role Service (NOS) and the National Environmental Satellite, in the global tsunami warning system. In addition to Geodetic Survey and Office of Coast Survey. Coverage areas for NOAA’s two tsunami warning centers: Data and Information Service (NESDIS). National Tsunami Warning Center (red) and Pacific providing forecast information to international partners Learn more about the NOAA Tsunami Program Tsunami Warning Center (yellow) in the Pacific and Caribbean, NOAA provides technical and tsunamis at http://tsunami.gov/. NOAA has led the U.S. effort to build a assistance and training to UNESCO’s IOC, the World Meteorological Organization and other international To learn more about NOAA, visit comprehensive tsunami warning system. entities to develop a fully functional and interoperable http://www.noaa.gov/. The result is a nation better equipped to global system made up of regional tsunami warning detect and respond to tsunamis. networks. This work is accomplished largely through the June 2017 The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in networks, NOAA supports regional seismic networks The historical database includes information on roughly Hawaii was established following a 1946 tsunami that in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. When an earthquake 2,500 tsunamis from 2000 B.C. to the present and is struck Hawaii, killing more than 150 people and causing occurs, seismic networks provide information about an used to identify regions at risk, validate tsunami forecast over $300 million in damage (2017 dollars). The PTWC earthquake’s location, depth and magnitude to help the models, help position DART systems and water-level directly serves the Hawaiian Islands, the U.S. Pacific warning centers determine if the earthquake may have stations and prepare for future events. and Caribbean territories and the British Virgin Islands generated a tsunami and if tsunami messages should be and is the primary international forecast center for the issued. Educating and Preparing Communities warning centers of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic and the Public Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, If the earthquake meets certain criteria, the centers use sea-level data to ascertain the existence of a tsunami. Preparedness and mitigation activities that Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the enhance response to a tsunami threat and reduce or Pacific and Caribbean and Adjacent Regions. NOAA has established and maintains two essential sea- level observation networks: a network of Deep-Ocean eliminate potential impacts are important parts of In 1964, the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) systems any tsunami warning system. Inundation mapping, history generated a number of destructive tsunamis and an extensive array of coastal water-level stations. hazard planning (e.g., evacuation and land use) and that killed 124 people in Alaska, Oregon and California outreach and education are critical preparedness and mitigation activities. NOAA works with its federal, state, and caused approximately $1 billion in damage (2017 stations are operated and maintained by NOS’s Center territorial, local and international partners to help coastal dollars). This prompted the creation of the U.S. National for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services as communities, residents and visitors understand their Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) in Alaska. The part of the National Water Level Observation Network. tsunami risk and how to prepare for and respond to NTWC serves the continental United States, Alaska and Several others are operated by the tsunami warning tsunamis and tsunami warnings. Canada. centers. In 1995, Congress directed NOAA to form and Detecting and Forecasting Tsunamis If a tsunami is detected, the centers use data from lead the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program seismic and sea-level networks as inputs to NOAA’s The warning centers depend on an observation (NTHMP). The NTHMP is a federal/state partnership tsunami forecast models. These models use real- system that includes seismic and sea-level networks from that includes NOAA, the Federal Emergency time data and pre-established scenarios to simulate around the world and forecast models to help them Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey and tsunami movement across the ocean and estimate determine when and where to issue tsunami messages. 28 U.S. states and territories. Through collaboration,
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