Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 06 November 2024
The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), under the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), conducted a National Tsunami Mock Exercise on November 5, 2024, coinciding with World Tsunami Awareness Day. The exercise was carried out across all coastal states and Union Territories of India, including in the A&N Islands.
The exercise saw active participation from a wide range of stakeholders, including local residents, emergency support teams, and various government agencies. Among the participants were the A&N Islands Police, Fire, Health, Electricity, Shipping, SVPMC, PMB, APWD, Civil Supply, IP&T, along with Emergency Operation Centres, District Administrations, A&N Command, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and other units of A&N Administration.
The primary objective of the exercise was to test the readiness of the Tsunami Early Warning System by simulating a large earthquake followed by tsunami modelling in Indian Ocean countries. The exercise aimed to assess communication protocols, decision-making during tsunami scenarios, and the effectiveness of disaster management organisations in issuing tsunami warnings and coordinating emergency responses.
At 9:30 AM, the ITEWC initiated the exercise by issuing a simulated tsunami threat warning, triggered by an imaginary earthquake measuring 9.3Mw on the Richter scale near Northern Sumatra. This was followed by tsunami generation, and alerts were sent to all coastal states, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The alerts, warnings, and advisories were disseminated through various communication channels from the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) to all relevant Emergency Operation Centres and control rooms of line departments across the islands.
The exercise concluded successfully with the issuance of an “All Clear” message at 1:30 PM from INCOIS, Hyderabad, marking the end of the simulated tsunami threat and the effective execution of the communication and response protocols.