GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND MITIGATION SYSTEM
Tsunami Advisory and Information Services
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The UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has been mandated to facilitate the coordination of the international tsunami warning and mitigation system. The 1st system was established in the Pacific in 1965 in response to the M9.5 Chile earthquake and tsunami (Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System). After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the IOC established systems in 2005 for the Indian Ocean, Caribbean, and NE Atlantic and Mediterranean. The systems are owned and operations by IOC Member States.
Existing Tsunami Service Providers of the Global Tsunami Warning System (Feb 2020)
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Regional Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs) provide threat advisory information and guidance to Member States. The oldest centre is the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), which was established after the 1946 Aleutian Islands tsunami as the USA Seismic Sea Wave Warning Center and in 1965 as the International Warning System in the Pacific (ITSU, renamed PTWS in 2005).
Regional Tsunami Information Centres (TICs) for the Caribbean (CTIC), Indian Ocean (IOTIC), Pacific (ITIC), and Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (NEAMTIC) work directly with Member States to establish their national tsunami warning and mitigation systems through technical advice, training and capacity development, preparedness and awareness. The oldest centre is the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC), established in 1965, which also works closely with the ICSU World Data Service Marine Geology/Geophysics / NOAA NCEI for the global historical tsunami database and tsunami event data archiving. Member States of each region meet regularly to review progress and coordinate activities resulting in improvements of the services. For information on the past Pacific sessions, visit PTWS.
For more information, visit the IOC Tsunami Programme