More coastal communities ready to manage tsunami risk in the Mediterranean and Northeast Atlantic

Last January, the city of Cannes in France was the first coastal municipality in the Mediterranean to obtain recognition as a "Tsunami Ready" community from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, for having implemented the entire preparation and mitigation in tsunami risk management. Other coastal communities in the geographic area that includes the northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and related basins, such as the Black Sea, are preparing to complete the procedures listed in the Tsunami Ready program guidelines, so as to achieve soon the number of other 7 municipalities ready and prepared for tsunami risk management.

This is what the XVIII IOC-NEAMTWS general assembly hoped for, held in Paris from 5 to 8 February 2024 and which involved the international delegations of that international coordination group engaged in the implementation of the IOC-UNESCO program for the management of tsunami risk.

In Italy, the Municipalities of Minturno, Palmi, Marzamemi, Otranto and Stromboli are already at an advanced stage of preparation, thanks to the participation and involvement activities of citizens and local authorities conducted by the national bodies that manage the SiAM alert system, i.e. the Department for Civil Protection, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.

A strong impetus to the implementation of the Tsunami Ready program in the NEAMTWS area (Mediterranean and North-East Atlantic) was given by the activities of the CoastWave project, financed by the European Commission (DG ECHO) and IOC-UNESCO itself. The initiative carried out many exercises with the populations of some coastal municipalities of the partnership countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Malta, Spain and Turkey, also on the occasion of the international tsunami risk awareness day, which is celebrated every 5 November .

Further progress in the implementation of the program was illustrated by the various internal working groups focused on the scientific activities of detection and evaluation of phenomena, operational warning and risk management techniques, periodic exercises, the exchange of knowledge and experience, communication and the involvement of all interested parties.

In order to better involve the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the next IOC-NEAMTWS general assembly is expected to be hosted in Egypt next October.