Regional Training Workshop: Strengthening Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response Standard Operating Procedures

11 - 15 February 2013,

San Salvador
El Salvador

Annotated Agenda

1 DAY 1: SESSIONS 1, 2, 3. MORNING: PLENARY
1.1 Opening Ceremonies
1.2 Logistics and other administrative items
1.3 Course Overview
2 Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response – Overview
2.1 End-to-End Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response – Overview
2.2 Lessons Learned from Past Tsunamis - Warning and Response
2.3 End-to-end Tsunami Warning – Stakeholders, Roles and Responsibilities, Standard Operating Procedures, and their linkages
2.4 Satellite communication technologies for the transmission of warnings to governments – WMO GTS, GEONETcast, EMWIN
3 Country Presentations - Tsunami Standard Operating Procedures
3.1 Country Presentations (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama) - 15 min/country
3.2 Discussion: Challenges for achieving end-to-end TWS: Data, Resources, Communication, Stakeholders, Coordination
3.3 Visit El Salvador MARN Tsunami Warning Center
4 DAY 2: SESSION 4. Science, Tsunami Standard Operating Procedures, Warning Dissemination
4.1 Earthquake and Tsunami Science - generation, propagation, impact
4.2 Pacific and Central America Tsunami Hazards
4.3 IOC Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System
4.4 National Tsunami Warning Centres Standard Operating Procedures - Overview on Routine and Event Operations, Flow Charts, Timelines, Checklists
4.5 Tsunami Emergency Response Standard Operating Procedures - Overview on Stakeholder Roles and Coordination, Event Operations, Timelines, Checklists
4.6 Emergency communication considerations – robustness, reliability, redundancy
4.7 Warning Dissemination and Public Alerts – Responsibilities to decision-makers, media, and the public – US Emergency Alert System
4.8 Warning Dissemination and Public Alerts – Responsibilities to decision-makers, media, and the public. – JMA-NHK Warning Dissemination
4.9 Emergency communication technologies for the transmission of warnings to governments and communities – WMO GTS, EMWIN, TV / FM / HF / Radio, Sirens, Mobile Phones / SMS, Internet email/web, Social Media, etc
4.10 Breakout Groups: Information Flow SOPs - Media and Public Information, and Frequently-asked questions during a tsunami event
4.11 Report Out: Information Flow SOPs - Media and Public Information
4.11.b Use of Exercises in Tsunami Preparedness: International / National / Local Exercises, Types, and Post-Exercise Evaluations, Exercise Pacific Wave,
4.12 Tsunami Preparedness - Education and Awareness
4.13 PTWC Concept of Operation and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Distant, Regional, and Local Tsunamis: Monitoring, Detection and Evaluation, Instrumentation and Methodologies (seismic, sea level, forecasts (travel time, wave height, etc), Data communications, Messages, and Message Dissemination
4.14 PTWC New International Products - Overview - Why, What, When, How
4.15 Tsunami Warning Decision Support Tools: Earthquake and Sea Level Monitoring, PTWC SMS Alerts, Historical Databases, Tsunami Travel Time Calculation
5 DAY 3: SESSION 5-TWC.
5.1 Earthquake Seismology - Magnitudes, Centroid Moment Tensors, Finite Fault Rupture
5.1.b Lessons Learned from Recent Tsunamis - Emergency Response
5.2 Earthquake Seismology - Slow Earthquakes, Great and Mega- Earthquakes and/or paleoseismic or probabilistic seismic hazards
5.2.b 10 Steps to Successful Tsunami Emergency Response
5.3 TWC Operations: Real-time seismic monitoring and earthquake source characterization - Techniques - 'Tricks of the Trade', Challenges and Limitations
5.3.b Community-level preparedness and response - International Perspectives, including TsunamiSmart and TsunamiReady, Special Needs Populations,Tourism Sector
5.4 TWC Operations: Sea level monitoring, tsunami confirmation - Techniques - 'Tricks of the Trade, Challenges and Limitations
5.4.b Public Coastal Evacuations: Alerting and Moving People, Inundation maps, Evacuation Routes and Signage, Safe Return
5.5 TWC Operations: Wave forecasting - Techniques - 'Tricks of the Trade, Challenges and Limitations
5.5.b Tsunami Mitigation - Hard & Soft Countermeasures, Vertical Evacuation
5.6 TWC Operations: Discussion and Questions
5.6.b Understanding and acting on TWC Messages, DMO Actions and Use of Timelines in Emergency Response
5.7 PTWC New Products: TWC Understanding - Use and Limitations
5.7.b New PTWC Products: TER understanding and interpretation - Use and Limitation
5.8 SOP Guidance - How to Guidance, including Analysis Processes, Flow Charts and Checklists. Fundamental TWC SOPs for a Timely Tsunami Warning: TWC Operations - Tsunami Event Activity Timelines: Cases 1-4 – Centres with / without real-time seismic processing
5.8.b Tsunami Emergency Response – Distant and Local Tsunami Threat – Wakayama, Japan Case Study
5.9 Creating SOPs - Breakout Group Instructions
5.9.b Creating SOPs - How to Guidance, Explanation of Templates, Distant and Local Threats including Response Processes, Flow Charts and Checklists in SOPs
5.10 Breakout Groups: Using Templates to Develop Timeline of Processes and Actions as SOPs (Messages, Checklists, Information Dissemination)
5.10.b Creating SOPs - Breakout Group Instructions
5.11 Presentation of Break out Group SOPs
5.11.b Breakout Groups: Using Templates to Create General Roles and Responsibilities for SOPs
5.11.c Breakout Groups: Using Templates to Create Evacuation Checklists for SOPs
5.11.d Breakout Groups: Using Templates to Develop Timeline of Processes and Actions as SOPs
5.12 Presentation of Breakout Group SOPs
6.1 Table Top Exercise – Background and Scenarios for Day 5
6.2 Table Top Exercise Set-up according to Stakeholder Warning and Response Groups
6.3 Tsunami Table Top Exercise
6.4 Post-Exercise Evaluation Preparation
6.5 Post-Exercise Evaluation – Comments, Problems, Improvements
6.6 Toward Building National and Regional Capabilities - Summary Discussion and Next Steps
7 Presentation of Certificates, Closing Ceremony