Tsunami exercise in Caribbean 

Caribe Wave 18 is scheduled to take place this March. The annual exercise, organised by the Intergovernmental Co-ordination Group for the Tsunami and other coastal hazards warning systems for the Caribbean and adjacent region, will provide an opportunity for its member states, including the British Virgin Islands, to test their plans, improve their Tsunami Warning System effectiveness and promote tsunami awareness.

The initial dummy messages for the three scenarios will be issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) on March 15, 2018 at 14:00 UTC and will be disseminated over all its standard broadcast channels.

The first scenario simulates a tsunami generated by a magnitude Mw 8.6 earthquake located along the Southern Lesser Antilles. The second simulates a tsunami generated by a magnitude Mw 8.1 earthquake located along the Caribbean coast of Colombia, while the third scenario simulates a tsunami generated by a magnitude Mw 7.6 earthquake off the West coast of Puerto Rico.

In the British Virgin Islands, Training Officer Carishma Hicks who has been organising these exercises since 2008 is calling for residents to fully participate this year.

“We want to ensure that there is full participation by all especially in light of the tsunami advisory that was issued for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands recently.  We want to test the procedures that would have been implemented if that advisory message was changed to a tsunami warning for the BVI,” she added.