Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 3.1
Actions During Tsunami Events on June 14, 2005, and November 15, 2006
Event
Prescribed Action
Actual Response
June 14, 2005
Felt earthquake
Evacuation on foot to high
ground along prescribed
evacuation routes
Spontaneous evacuation of
population, in vehicles, on routes
into areas of potential inundation
June 14, 2005
Notiication of
tsunami warning
Public safety dispatch to
activate sirens and provide
notiication
Dispatch was overwhelmed by 911
calls and failed to follow activation/
notiication procedures
June 14, 2005
Veriication of
notiication by
state
Public safety dispatch to
receive call and verify receipt
of warning
Dispatch could not answer calls
from state authorities
November 15,
2006
Distant
earthquake
and tsunami
warning issued
by west Coast/
Alaska Tsunami
Warning Center
(WC/ATWC)
Notiication and cancellation
of warning by WC/ATWC,
based on updated
information from Deep-
ocean Assessment and
Reporting of Tsunamis
(DART) buoy data and
projections from Paciic
Marine Environmental
Laboratory (PMEL) model
Alert and warning procedures
followed. Extensive damage
occurred in the Crescent City marina
where deferred maintenance
resulted in structural deterioration
of dock facilities
SOURCE: Committee member, based on CalEMA internal action report.
Entities
. TsunamiReady Program recognition currently can only be given to legally recognized
jurisdictions (e.g., states, counties, tribes), excluding other entities such as unincorporated
communities. Previous studies have shown that signiicant percentages of individuals living in
tsunami-prone areas are in unincorporated villages (Wood, 2007; Wood et al., 2008).
Training
. NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologists (WCMs) are the designated local points
of contact and advocates for the TsunamiReady Program. Proposed TsunamiReady standards
seek to frame the program as an effort to increase community resilience, yet WCMs are trained
meteorologists and receive little technical training in preparedness, emergency management,
education, planning, and risk. Although NOAA is currently working on a training course with
the WC/ATWC to inform WCMs on center operations, it is not apparent that WCMs are receiving
training in mitigation, education, or other approaches to build resilience that are now being
touted as the new direction of TsunamiReady.
Resources.
The TsunamiReady Program objective to encourage tsunami resilience of all coastal
communities in our nation is commendable, but the program has access to few resources
and little staff time to accomplish this objective. As a result, the TsunamiReady Program at the
