NOAA
PTWC New Enhanced Products
On 0000Z 1 October 2014, the US NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center 
(PTWC) commenced issuance of new Enhanced Tsunami Products for all Pacific countries, culminating a 7-year intergovernmental process coordinated by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) through its Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS). PTWC retired its Warning and Watch services, and began issuing wave height threat forecasts to country National Tsunami Warning Centers, who will now assess and issue Warnings using guidance from the PTWC, national, and other sources.
The IOC, UNESCO IOC - NOAA International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) and PTWC have guided the transition, working together to build national warning decision-making capacity in all Pacific countries. Valued important partnerships with countries, regional governmental and non-governmental organizations, and donors have supported the necessary training workshops to ensure a smooth changeover.
The ICG/PTWS encompasses 46 countries, covering the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas spanning more than 20,000 kilometers east to west, and over history, has suffered 75% of the world’s fatal tsunamis, with 99% from local tsunamis that strike within minutes.
Most of the world's earthquakes and tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas, an area spanning more than 20,000 kilometers east to west. Over history, the Pacific has had 75% of the world’s fatal tsunamis, with 99% of those casualties from local tsunamis that struck within minutes. On average, the Pacific is hit by a locally damaging tsunami every year or two, and by a major Pacific-wide tsunami a few times each century. Over the past nine years (2005-2014), the Pacific witnessed six destructive and deadly tsunamis that placed Pacific countries in various levels of warnings for local and distant tsunamis. However, since the start of the international warning system for the Pacific in 1965, less than 1% of tsunami deaths have occurred in the far field, as compared to ~17% of tsunami deaths prior to 1965.
Contacts for further information:
Mr. Bernardo Aliaga, Technical Secretary, ICG/PTWS, IOC of UNESCO, b.aliaga@unesco.org
Dr. Laura Kong, Director, ITIC, laura.kong@noaa.gov
Documents
| Start of Issuance of PTWS PTWC Enhanced Products, 0000 UTC, 1 October 2014 (IOC CL 2535, 4 Sep 2014) (PDF, 2.47 MB) |
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User’s Guide for the PTWC Enhanced Products for the PTWS (IOC TS 105 rev, Aug 2014) |
| PTWC New Enhanced Products - 1 page Information Sheet (Sep 2014) (Light PDF, 700 KB) |
| PTWC New Enhanced Products - Overview (Sep 2014) (PPT, 12 MB; PDF, 7 MB) |
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PTWC New Enhanced Products - US NOAA NWS change notices |
| IOC Tsunami Warning Focal Point (TWFP) and National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) Definitions (IOC Executive Council, July 2014) (PDF, 53 KB) |
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NTWC Guidance, Message Templates, Emergency Response (from PTWC Enhanced Products User's Guide)
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| General TWS and TWC Requirements (ITIC, PDF, 75 KB) |
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Background Technical Information (annotated PPT based on ITP-Hawaii 2014, ITP-LAC, ITP-PIC2, ITP-SCS trainings) - can also be provided on DVD on request to ITIC
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PTWC RIFT Scenarios - sensitivity runs, historical events, plausible worst case scenarios
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Media - Public Information
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Quick Links
Resources
Tsunami Awareness Poster
Available in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Singalese.
Global & Regional Hazard Maps
Tsunami Sources, Significant Earthquakes, Significant Volcanic Eruptions, Tsunami Icosohedron Globe.
TsunamiTeacher USA
Tsunami Basics
Also on YouTube
(w/closed captioning)
Learn the basics of tsunamis. Available in English, Samoan.