25 March 2015
The annual Regional Tsunami Exercise, CARIBE WAVE 15, was conducted on 25 March 2015 at 1400 UTC. Over 100,000 people from across the entire Caribbean basin participated in this exercise. UNESCO/IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunamis and Other Coastal Hazards for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CARIBE EWS) Member States and Territories had two scenarios from which to choose: a tsunami generated by a Mw 8.5 earthquake in Panama and a tsunami generated by a Mw 6.8 earthquake in Florida. Tsunami exercises such as CARIBE WAVE are important to validate and advance end-to-end tsunami preparedness across the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions. All 48 CARIBE EWS Member States and Territories, stakeholders, and communities at risk are encouraged to plan for and participate in tsunami exercises.
Final Documents | Links |
Evaluation Report (IOC TS 118, Vol 2, July 2020) | |
Media Report | |
Exercise Documents | Links |
Participant Handbook (IOC TS 118. Vol 1, 2014) | |
Announcement (IOC Circular Letter 2557, 18 December 2014) | |
Exercise Presentation | |
Post-exercise questionnaire | |
SW Caribbean | |
Supporting Documents | Links |
PTWC Communication Plan (2006) | |
How to Plan, Conduct and Evaluate Tsunami Exercises (IOC Manuals and Guides 58, 2013) | PDF, EN PDF, SP |
Standard Guidelines for the Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme (IOC Manuals and Guides 74, April 2022) | |
Multi-annual Community Tsunami Exercise Programme (IOC Manuals and Guides 86, September 2021) | PDF, EN PDF, SP PDF, FR |
Users' Guide for the Central America Tsunami Advisory Centre (CATAC) (2019 draft) | PDF, SP |
CARIBE WAVE webinars
Two series of webinars are held for Member States’ stakeholders prior to the exercise. The first webinar is dedicated to explaining the exercise’s objectives, tsunami scenarios, and tsunami products, whereas the second webinar focuses on communication systems and the exercise evaluation. They are conducted in English, Spanish, and French to facilitate the participation of all the countries. All the presentations from the webinars are made available.
Webinars | Links |
Webinar 1 | |
English (20 January 2015) | Presentation |
Spanish (21 January 2015) | Presentation |
French (22 January 2015) | Presentation |
Webinar 2 | |
English (24 February 2015) | Presentation |
Spanish (25 February 2015) | Presentation |
French (26 February 2015) | Presentation |
Additional Resources | Links |
Caribbean Tsunami Information Center (CTIC) | Website |
Central America Tsunami Advisory Center (CATAC) | Website |
UNESCO/IOC list of designated national agencies responsible for the coordination of international tsunami warning and mitigation activities | Website |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)/World Data Service (WDS) Global Historical Tsunami Database | Website |
NOAA Tsunami Program | Website |
TsunamiZone | Website |
UNESCO IOC Tsunami Page | Website |
UNESCO IOC Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme | Website |
TsunamiZone | Website |
US Tsunami Warning System | Website |
For questions please contact:
christa.vonh@noaa.gov – Manager ITIC-CAR
a.brome@unesco.org – Programme Officer CTIC