Staff of the National Weather Watch Centre in Timehri will be participating in a regional tsunami early warning exercise today, GINA said.
Known as Caribe Wave 16, the exercise will test the effectiveness of early warning arrangements involving those responsible for the management of emergencies in the region.
GINA said that these include national Tsunami Warning Focal Points, weather forecast centres, national coast guard services, and emergency relief services.
The purpose of the exercise is to identify possible weaknesses in the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and adjacent regions. It will test a double scenario including a major earthquake off the coast of Venezuela and another off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic.
According to GINA, the Timehri Weather Watch Centre is outfitted with web-based equipment that can receive signals from any seismic activity around the world. Today’s activity will test the equipment’s accuracy.
The exercise will feature fictitious messages sent by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) and countries can choose to extend the test at the local level by issuing the alert via sirens or loudspeakers.
GINA said that Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Panama are planning to test their preparedness through an evacuation exercise for some of their coastal populations.
