The National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) and the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) will carry out the NEAMWAVE’21 exercise tomorrow, March 10, between 8:30 am and 2:00 pm.
NEAMWAVE’21 aims to test the effectiveness and readiness of the Tsunami alert system implemented in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS).
This is a communications exercise during which the various national and international players will exchange technical-operational notifications with each other related to the eventuality of an earthquake responsible for the generation of a tsunami with an impact on the Portuguese coast.
Portugal participates in the different phases of the exercise through ANEPC, IPMA, the Directorate-General of the Maritime Authority (DGAM), the Maritime Search and Rescue Service of the Navy (MRCC – Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre), the Regional Civil Protection Service and Firefighters from the Azores, the Regional Civil Protection Service of Madeira, the Municipal Civil Protection Services and Fire Departments of the coastal and estuarine counties of mainland Portugal, as well as through a set of entities responsible for the management of vital infrastructures of the energy networks , water supply, communications and road and rail.
The ANEPC involves the exercise of the various levels of the structure of the national civil protection system, namely the National Emergency and Civil Protection Command, the Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Commands and the District Relief Operations Commands, in close articulation with the levels autonomous municipal and regional authority, and ensuring coordination with other participating agents and entities.
The IPMA intervenes in the exercise as a Tsunami Alert Centre responsible for monitoring, detecting and disseminating tsunami alerts to national coordinating entities, as well as to the emergency management entities of several countries in the Northeast Atlantic, such as Morocco, Spain, the United Kingdom -United, Denmark, France, Germany and Ireland, among others.
NEAMTWS is the designation of the alert and warning system for the North East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Related Seas (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 on December 26, 2004.
The NEAMTWS warning and warning system focuses its action on three main areas:
- Tsunami risk assessment;
- Preparing and sensitizing the population;
- Implementation of alert and warning systems in case of emergency.
Five Tsunami Alert Centers are currently operational in this region of the globe: CENALT (France), INGV (Italy), KOERI (Turkey), NOA (Greece) and IPMA (Portugal), which provide the alert to the authorities of the NEAM Member States in the event of the eventuality or occurrence of a tsunami.