The last edition of the ITSU Master Plan was revised in July 2004.
As stated in the Second Edition of the ITSU Master Plan “The International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (ICG/ITSU), of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, was established in 1968 and is composed of Member States from all parts of the Pacific region. The purpose of ICG/ITSU is to provide or improve all aspects of tsunami mitigation in the Pacific including hazard assessment, warnings, preparedness, and research through a system of international cooperation and coordination of activities.”
In October 2005 ICG/ITSU was superseded by the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the Pacific (ICCG/PTWS).
This document, the third and finall edition of the ICG/ITSU Master Plan was initiated following the ICG/PTWS Officers Meeting in October 2008. It gives a brief overview of tsunamis and the tsunami hazard in the Pacific at a time shortly preceding the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004. At that time, the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (TWSP) was the world’s only operational tsunami warning system, and the ICG/ITSU, under the auspices of the IOC, was the only international coordination group. This Third Edition of the ITSU Master Plan summarizes the history of the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific, outlines the key components and activities for building an effective tsunami warning and mitigation system, and presents the views of the ICG/ITSU on its status and progress until 2004 and areas for highest priority action by ITSU for improving the TWSP.