The National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) continues to promote tsunami readiness through the annual Caribe Wave exercise to take place on March 21.
The activity is an initiative of an inter-governmental coordination group for tsunamis and other coastal hazards of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It targets countries throughout the Caribbean to help them prepare for tsunamis which are regarded as rare hazards usually causing severe devastation.
Schools, workplaces and residents in general are encouraged to use the opportunity to boost their knowledge of tsunamis, their impacts and how to prepare for such hazards. Groups participating in the drill are asked to register with NODS before March 7 by calling 462-4206 or email [email protected].
Tsunamis have impacted Antigua and Barbuda and other regional territories in the past.
Records show that on April 6, 1690 an earthquake near Antigua and Nevis believed to have been triggered by landslides into the sea generated tsunami waves that were observed in Antigua, Nevis and St. Thomas.
Also, on November 1, 1755, the Great Lisbon earthquake in Portugal, which had a magnitude of between 8.5 and 9.0, caused tsunamis throughout the Caribbean with wave heights of 3.5 feet reported in Antigua.
In more recent times, the 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Haiti in 2010 generated a tsunami that caused 75 deaths.
Over the past ten years or so, several schools and workplaces have participated in the annual Caribe Wave exercise which UNESCO started in 2011.