CARIBE WAVE/LANTEX 2013 TSUNAMI EXERCISE

The Caribbean region has a long history of tsunamis. There are multiple faults and submarine features in the region that are potential sources of future earthquake and landslide generated tsunamis. The purpose of the CARIBE WAVE/LANTEX 2013 tsunami exercise is to increase awareness and strengthen the operations of the current Tsunami Warning System. It will be held in March 20, 2013. The modeling and heights of the tsunami for some specific points were provided by the Pacific and West Coast/Alaska tsunami warning centers. To complement this information, earthquake impacts, as well as tsunami travel times for additional areas were computed. With the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) and Shake Map scenarios for the earthquake triggering the tsunami were developed to estimate earthquake impacts. For estimating the time that the wave travels to any point, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) has developed the Tsunami Travel Times (TTT). The Tsunami Travel Times software was used to provide tsunami travel time maps to know the wave arrival time from the given earthquake source. To evaluate the exercise an online survey was prepared. The framework for this exercise is the UNESCO IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunamis and Other Coastal Hazards for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CARIBE – EWS) and the NOAA NWS National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. The NWS Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program is responsible for the CARIBE WAVE, international component. The Puerto Rico Seismic Network of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez coordinates the LANTEX, US component, in Puerto Rico.