It is 11.30 a.m. A powerful undersea earthquake in the Makran Trench south of Iran and Pakistan generates tsunami waves, triggering an alert across the Indian Ocean region. Soon, the Disaster Management machinery in Kerala swings into action to prepare the coastal communities for evacuation.
The scenario will be played out in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kozhikode and Kasaragod districts on September 8 as a simulation exercise to test the State’s disaster preparedness.
Codenamed Indian Ocean Wave 2016, the mock drill is part of a massive multinational exercise organised by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. In Kerala, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) is coordinating it. The ‘IOWave16’ scenario for Kerala will comprise tsunami waves generated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the Makran Trench.
The simulations will be provided by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS). The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) in Australia, India, and Indonesia will provide exercise bulletins and detailed tsunami threat advice on their websites and send notification messages to the tsunami warning focal points.
The primary objective of the drill is to streamline the early warning and response system and improve coordination throughout the region. It also seeks to test Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and communication links at all levels of the warning chain.
“IOWave16 will test the administration’s connect with the coastal communities. Our focus will be on systematic and disciplined community evacuation and the effective operation of the command and control system,” says Sekhar L. Kuriakose, member, SDMA and Head (Scientist), SEOC.
During the exercise, the residents within 100 m of the coast in one village in each of the four selected districts will be evacuated to safer locations at least one hour before the tsunami waves are expected to hit the coast.
