HR: 11:20h
AN: S52A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Tsunami Warning Services for the Caribbean Region
AU: Whitmore, P M
EM: paul.whitmore@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, 910 South Felton Street, Palmer, AK 99645, United States
AU: * Ferris, J C
EM: justin.ferris@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, 910 South Felton Street, Palmer, AK 99645, United States
AU: Weinstein, S A
EM: stuart.weinstein@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/NWS/Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, 91-270 Fort Weaver Road, Ewa Beach, HI 96706, United States
AB: Tsunami warning and watch services are currently provided to the Caribbean region through a collaborative effort between the two NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers (TWCs): the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) in Palmer, Alaska. The WCATWC, in coordination with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN), provides fast-response warning services to the U.S. territories of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (PR/VI). The PTWC provides regional watch services to other countries throughout and surrounding the Caribbean Sea as part of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Caribbean Sea and Adjacent Regions. This collaboration is analogous to the TWC's responsibilities in the Pacific basin: the WCATWC provides fast-response warning services for the U.S. west coast states, Alaska, and British Columbia in Canada, while the PTWC provides regional services for countries throughout and surrounding the Pacific Ocean (as well as a fast-response service for the U.S. State of Hawaii). Caribbean seismic data are transmitted to the TWCs through several means. The PRSN directly exports data to the WCATWC, providing the Center sufficient seismic data for the PR/VI region. Additionally, the PRSN provides the TWCs with data gathered from other Caribbean nations. Using modern communication capabilities, the seismic data can be processed at the TWCs at the same time it is processed locally. Another source of high- quality seismic data is the new USGS nine-station array that circles the region. The Global Seismic Network maintains several stations in Caribbean, Central American, and South American nations which are available in real-time to the TWCs. Unfortunately, sea level data coverage is sporadic in the region. The PR/VI has a relatively dense array of coastal tide gages, but coastal tide gage coverage is very sparse for the rest of the Caribbean basin. Three deep-ocean pressure sensors are installed in the region: two north of PR/VI and one in the central Caribbean Sea. Together, these seismic and sea level data sets provide the TWCs with the necessary data to provide effective tsunami warning products and services for the Caribbean region.
DE: 4564 Tsunamis and storm surges
DE: 7219 Seismic monitoring and test-ban treaty verification
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly