The chances that there will be a tsunami in the next thirty years in the Mediterranean Sea, with waves over a meter high and seven hundred deep and with consequences that could become “catastrophic”, are “very high”, according to the statistics collected by the
During a press conference on the global tsunami warning system Tsunami Ready, the Secretary of the UNESCO Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Vladimir Ryabinin, clarified that “there is not a 100% chance of it happening, but these are very high. And we have to be prepared for it.”
There are only 21 countries prepared
Currently, there are 40 coastal areas in 21 countries that have been recognized by UNESCO as being prepared to suffer a tsunami, an issue that will be the protagonist of the United Nations (UN) ocean summit that will take place in Lisbon from next June 27.
The Tsunami Ready initiative seeks to prepare coastal communities for tsunamis in all regions of the world. In the case of the Mediterranean area, the experts warn of the underestimation of the tsunami risk by the authorities and that, therefore, these populations are not very aware.
This project, financed by the EU, began to be launched on the Greek island of Kos in 2020, after the small tsunami suffered in 2017. Now, UNESCO joins the EU and wants to take this training and protection initiative to all coastal communities around the world.
train the population
“The goal is to have 100% of the coastal areas prepared to experience a tsunami. Many of them are vulnerable areas and must be prepared when faced with this threat,” explained the IOC-UNESCO tsunami program specialist, Bernardo Aliaga. .
To prepare the training programs for the populations to assume a tsunami, a series of criteria are taken into account that evaluate the risks in each area, including the socio-economic level of the communities, the composition of the land or the vegetation.
Aliaga emphasized the vital importance of good coordination between the research communities and the security and emergency institutions and bodies to provide an effective response to a tsunami. 70% of these phenomena are caused by seismic movements, 20% are due to volcanic activity and the remaining 10% are due to meteorological phenomena.