Underwater drilling equipment has been used to install a tsunami warning sensor at George Town Harbour, linking the Cayman Islands to the Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program.
According to Hazard Management Cayman Islands, the sensor connects with five other new stations in the Caribbean and works by continually monitoring sea level. Data is sent via satellite to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and other international scientific institutes.
Hazard Management deputy director Lee Madison said the Cayman sensor completed the Caribbean network.
“It constantly monitors the sea level. If the level changed suddenly, it would send an alarm,” Mr. Madison said. “A tsunami is a viable concern in the Caribbean.”
The Cayman component uses both radar and pressure sensors to measure sea level and will help supply data to the Department of Environment, Lands and Survey, and the National Weather Service for various research projects.
The sensor has been funded through a UNESCO grant and was installed by German company OTT with assistance from Hazard Management Cayman Islands, Lands and Survey, Port Authority and Department of Environment.
A Caribbean-wide mock exercise was launched at the site Wednesday where crews responded to a simulated tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake located approximately 168 miles off the coast of Portugal.
The exercise had been designed to evaluate local tsunami response plans, increase tsunami preparedness, and improve coordination throughout the Caribbean region and the northern Western Atlantic. The Department of Public Safety Communications, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Cayman Islands National Weather Service and Government Information Services attended.
Hazard Management Cayman Islands currently receives emergency messages about tsunamis from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Cayman will begin to receive messages from the Caribbean Tsunami Warning Center in Puerto Rico when the center is fully operational.
Records from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show 75 tsunamis with high validity have been observed in the Caribbean over the last 500 years. During the last 200 years, almost 3,500 people have lost their lives to tsunamis in the Caribbean.
The continuously transmitted sea level data from the sensors can be viewed at www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org
Related Videos
