India, 23 other countries to take part in tsunami mock drill

India, along with 23 other countries on the Indian Ocean rim, will participate in mock tsunami drill Sep 9 and 10 to test Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS).

This drill, organized under the auspices of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, is expected to increase preparedness, evaluate response capabilities in each country and improve coordination throughout the region, said a statement by Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC).

The drill also aims to evaluate the system's operational capacity, the efficiency of communications among the different concerned actors, and the state of preparation of national emergency services.

The mock drill will simulate tsunamis originating from two earthquake sources on successive days, one in the eastern Indian Ocean and the other in the northwestern Indian Ocean.

The first scenario simulates a magnitude 9.1 earthquake south of Java, Indonesia and will commence at 5.30 a.m. IST on Sep 9. The second scenario simulates a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the Makran Trench, south of Iran and Pakistan and will commence at 11.30 a.m. Sep 10. On both days the drill will run in real time for a period of 12 hours.

During the drill, ITEWC will generate and disseminate 15 tsunami notifications to both its national and regional contacts through GTS, email, fax, SMS as well as web. The recipients at the national level include control rooms of the National Disaster Management Authority, the union home ministry, disaster management offices of all coastal states/union territories, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and critical coastal installations like ports and power plants.

ITEWC, based out of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, is an autonomous institution under the ministry of earth sciences. It will participate in this drill, both in its capacity as National Tsunami Warning Centre (NTWC) for India as well as one of the Regional Tsunami Advisory Service Providers (RTSP) in the Indian Ocean region.