Regional workshop on standard operating procedures for tsunami warning and emergency response for indian ocean countries

At the 8th Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS) held in Melbourne, Australia, 3-6 May 2011, the ICG decided to conduct a training workshop on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for tsunami warning and emergency response involving the Regional Tsunami Service Providers (RTSPs), National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWCs), National Disaster Management Organisations (NDMOs), and Working Groups 2 and 3 to help prepare the IOTWS for the new RTSP service, which is scheduled to commence operations at the IOWave11 exercise on 12th October 2011. The workshop will be hosted by the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) in Jakarta, Indonesia, 19-23 September 2011 with the support of and in collaboration with UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre (APRC).

The primary goal of the workshop is to assist the ICG/IOTWS Member States to adapt their SOPs for the new RTSP service. The objectives will be: to understand RTSP services and products and how they differ from the Interim Advisory Service provided by JMA and PTWC; to understand the impact of the RTSP service on NTWC SOPs; to identify potential gaps and possible challenges for warning chain SOPs at the national level; to familiarise the electronic media with the new service and develop/adapt SOPs for interfacing with the media; and to prepare for the IOWave11 Exercise.