The National Civil Protection Authority (ANPC) and the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) will hold the NEAMWAVE’17 exercise tomorrow, November 3, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN INTERNAL CPX Exercise so no alarms will be sounded in public areas.
NEAMWAVE’17 aims to test the effectiveness and readiness of the Tsunami alert system implemented in the North-East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Related Seas region.
This is a communication exercise during which the various national and international players will exchange technical-operational notifications related to the eventuality of an earthquake responsible for the generation of a Tsunami with an impact on the Portuguese coast.
In the edition of NEAMWAVE’17 all the coastal counties included between Vila Real de Santo António and Lourinhã, that is to say, the districts of Faro, Beja, Setúbal and Lisboa districts whose riverside fronts are susceptible of being affected by a Tsunami.
Portugal participated in the different phases of the exercise through ANPC and IPMA.
The exercise involves the various levels of the structure of the national civil protection system, namely the ANPC, through the National Relief Operations Command and the district disaster relief commands of those districts, and the municipal civil protection services of the mentioned municipalities.
The IPMA is involved in the exercise as a focal point responsible for the detection and dissemination of the Tsunami alert to the ANPC, Directorate-General of the Maritime Authority (DGAM) and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC), as well as emergency management entities from several countries in the Northeast Atlantic, such as Morocco, Spain, England, Denmark and Ireland, among others.
NEAMTWS is the designation of the warning and warning system for the North-East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Related Oceans (Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System for the North-Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas), implemented and coordinated by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission after the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004.
The NEAMTWS warning and warning system focuses its action in three main areas:
- Tsunami risk assessment;
- Preparation and sensitization of the population;
- Implementation of warning and warning systems in case of emergency.
Four service providers (based in France, Greece, Italy and Turkey) are currently operating in this region of the globe, which warns NEAM Member States authorities in the event of a Tsunami event or occurrence. In an operational phase, also integrating the network of service providers in the Northeast Atlantic region.