More than 20 countries* around the Pacific Rim will participate in a second Pacific wide tsunami exercise. The name of the exercise is “Pacific Wave 08” and will take place from 28 to 30 October 2008. Testing the UNESCO-initiated Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS), the drill aims to evaluate the system, increase preparedness and improve coordination throughout the region.

The “Exercise Pacific Wave 08” will simulate a Tsunami Warning situation, requiring Member State to make decisions and take all necessary steps short of alerting the public.

The exercise scenario will use a single earthquake source located off of the northeast coast of Japan, and the simulated tsunami will propagate in real time across the entire Pacific taking approximately 24 hours to travel from Japan to the coast of South America. Exercise bulletins will be issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC) and the Northwest Pacific Tsunami Advisory Center (NWPTAC).

The exercise will review current warning system procedures and help identify operational strengths and weaknesses in each country and is not required to be conducted through to community level. Member countries will be encouraged to exercise, evaluate and report back on communication and decision making within a warning situation down to the level just prior to public notification.

*Countries include Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, (French Polynesia and New Caledonia), Nicaragua, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Niue, Peru, Russian Federation, Samoa, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Thailand and the United States. The island of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia, will also participate.