Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
8.3.1 Formation, scope, and membership
The ICGs were formed around a single, regionally delimited, issue area: the protection of
lives and properties from tsunamis through the establishment of TWS in four ocean basins,
addressing 'a tsunami capable of destruction in a particular geographic region, generally
within 1,000 km or 1-3 hours' tsunami travel time from its source' (IOC,
2008a
). The ex-
pansion of the TWS to address different types of hazards from the sea is being considered
in the context of a multi-hazard approach and in cooperation with other competent intergov-
ernmental organizations. Such hazards would include storm surges or other destructive wa-
ter levels that are detected or confirmed by the same monitoring networks and may involve
comparable warning procedures (IOC,
2009
; cf. WMO's Flood Forecasting Initiative).
No precise definition of the geographical application area of the tsunami early warning
and mitigation systems has been given by the IOC, but the limits of oceans and seas defined
ce. In the case of the north-eastern Atlantic, on consideration of historical records of tsunami
runups, the southern limits were set by the IOC Secretariat at 15° North, that is, covering up
to the Mauritanian coast (for consideration of an eruption of the Cumbre Vieja Volcano on
the Island of La Palma which may cause a catastrophic failure of its west flank and generate
a tsunami that would affect large portions of the north-western and north-eastern Atlantic
The regional tsunami warning systems do not rely on compliance with binding agree-
ments for their development and implementation, but rather on commitment to a series of
principles embedded in IOC policies, among which is the Oceanographic Data Exchange
unrestricted access to all data, associated metadata and products generated under the aus-
pices of IOC programmes'. The Policy also encourages IOC member states to apply the
sameapproachto'relevant dataandassociated metadata fromnon-IOCprogrammes thatare
essential for application to the preservation of life, beneficial public use and protection of
the ocean environment, the forecasting of weather, the operational forecasting of the marine
