Spain trains for when the tsunami arrives: a plan and 2 types of evacuations in one hour

Spain trains for when the tsunami arrives: a plan and 2 types of evacuations in one hour Lucía Bernal NEWS25.06.2022 - 08:06h The Gulf of Cadiz, the North of Algeria and North Africa are fault zones and, therefore, of "high risk" seismic. Chipiona is preparing to be the first municipality in Europe with Tsunami Ready certification. Specialists predict a tsunami of "catastrophic consequences" in the Mediterranean in the next 30 years. The Secretary of the Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, Vladimir Ryabinin, affirmed this Tuesday that the populations bordering the Mediterranean Sea could, in the next 30 years, suffer tsunamis. "There is not a 100% chance of it happening, but it is very high and we have to be prepared for it," he said during a press conference on the Tsunami Ready global tsunami warning system. This is the goal that aims to reach the working group of the Hydraulic Institute of the University of Cantabria (IH Cantabria), headed by Mauricio Gonzalez, head of the group of engineering and coastal management in the center. Together with the Municipality of Chipiona, they are working for this municipality to obtain the 'Tsunami Ready' certificate, which would mean a recognition by UNESCO of the optimal preparation in case of tsunami. Gonzalez tells 20minutos that it is necessary that the municipalities of the Spanish coasts make an estimate of the risk of a tsunami impact and develop protocols for action to be prepared in case it occurs because so far, no municipality is prepared to respond to a tsunami warning. "The risk of suffering a tsunami should be studied at the community and municipal level." Risk areas in Spain The researcher explains that at the state level a document was made where it was identified which were the areas most exposed to the impact of a tsunami, being all the coasts of Spain, except Asturias and Cantabria, where the impact would be lower. "In those areas it is less likely to occur because there are no faults. These are found in the Gulf of Cadiz, North Algeria, North Africa and other areas. So it should be studied at the community and municipal scale what the tsunami hazard is and how it would affect." Tsunamis with waves of more than 8 meters: this is what the strongest tsunamis on the Spanish coast would be like and the reaction time. Currently, Spain has a Civil Protection Plan for the Risk of Tsunamis, which the Government prepared and approved in May 2021. As explained in the text published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), it is "a tsunami warning system, with the purpose of warning about the imminence of such threat to civil protection authorities and public emergency services, as well as to citizens who may be affected", although it only establishes a "basic guideline for civil protection planning against the risk of tsunamis". In addition, there is also a Tsunami Warning System in Spain at the National Geographic Institute (IGN), which is operational and in case of risk, issues the tsunami warning message to the population. But as Mauricio Gonzalez points out, an action plan is needed in the municipalities that could be affected by the tsunami. The Gulf of Cadiz, a "high risk" zone González explains that the Gulf of Cádiz is a "high risk" area as it is close to several seismic faults, which separate the Eurasian tectonic plate from the African plate. In addition, he points out that already in 1755 Spain suffered the consequences of the Lisbon earthquake, which originated in a deep point of the sea. This tidal wave produced a tsunami that caused serious damage to the coasts of Huelva and Cadiz, as well as leaving more than 2,000 dead in a large part of the Andalusian coast. For all these reasons, they decided to contact the Municipality of Chipiona to start up the project there. "Chipiona is a pilot case of the Tsunami Ready program, we are studying all the steps that have to be taken to prepare the municipality, both the administrative part and the population and emergency bodies. And this plan will allow us to guide other municipalities on how to prepare", explains González. Averroes Fault in the Alboran Sea The "real" threat of the Averroes fault: earthquakes and tsunamis that could submerge the Spanish coast. The mayor of Chipiona, Luis Mario Aparcero, explains to 20minutos that the municipality "is traditionally aware because in November we always commemorate the 1755 earthquake. There is always a procession with the Christ of Mercy and we do activities with the educational centers related to the event, so there is a special sensitivity." They started working together since 2020 to meet the 12 indicators set by UNESCO for a municipality to be Tsunami Ready. "A basic indicator consists of knowing the exposure there is to the tsunami and the elements of risk, for this we have drawn maps that indicate which areas would be flooded and based on them, we have prepared evacuation maps, to be able to know evacuation routes and safe areas," said Mauricio González. In addition, he adds that "we also work with the Junta de Andalucía, the IGN and Civil Protection to see how the alerts arrive from the center to the municipalities and put the protocol into practice". Other indicators refer to the awareness of the population and the coordination of emergency services, and to meet them, the council has carried out several actions. Vertical and horizontal evacuation As the mayor of Chipiona says, "the Tsunami Ready Center has been created in the San Fernando building where there is a permanent exhibition on tsunamis and where tsunami evacuation maps prepared by the institute in Spanish and English will be installed". Once these maps were available, Aparcero says that "we did an evacuation drill to calculate the time it would take from the moment we received the warning of a large-caliber earthquake in the tectonic plates of the Gulf of Cadiz. We know that within an hour of its occurrence, a tsunami of between 4 or 5 meters from sea level could come, and an avalanche of water 1 or 1.5 meters high would enter the town. Knowing this, the mayor explains how the population would act: "Two types of evacuation would be carried out: one is the vertical evacuation, to the rooftops, and the other is horizontal, to evacuation points that are already marked on the evacuation maps and that we want to place this summer," says Aparcero. What remains to be done? Aparcero explains that they are awaiting validation by UNESCO of the entire study of the terrain and the two types of maps drawn up so far. "Once they give us the approval and provide us with funding, we will disseminate the evacuation maps also to tourist agencies, hotels, the citizens and at the Tsunami Ready center." Both the researcher and the mayor point out that several activities still need to be carried out, estimating to be fully prepared by the end of 2023. Aparcero says that "now we will carry out the education phase in schools and also to the rest of the population. In addition, we will also coordinate with the churches to ring a big bell so that the population knows that it is a tsunami warning". "The objective is to communicate the alert in the shortest time possible, since the Local Police receives it from Madrid. That is why we have also placed a provisional signage so that people know where to move to safe areas, which must be approved by UNESCO. Once we get the go-ahead, we will continue to implement measures such as the placement of sirens, the development of a computer application that allows users to receive the tsunami alarm," says Aparcero. Command post installed in Huelva for tsunami drill Tsunami risk in Andalusia and the Canary Islands: this is the Government's plan to try to stop it. Other measures they have pending to implement is the "signaling with buoys and to set up a classroom for 25 or 30 people in the San Fernando building to project a video that allows the population to know how to act and the recommendations, such as some of quite common sense like moving on foot to the meeting points and not by car, and how not to go to see the tsunami". Mauricio Gonzalez also stresses the importance of coordinating emergency teams. "There is still a year and a half left in the European CoastWave project led by UNESCO to implement the entire Tsunami Ready program in Chipiona, there is still to develop the protocol of action of all emergency services: what the police do, what the firefighters do, what the Red Cross does ... etc, and also to educate the population. By the end of 2023 we will be ready, although the Tsunami Ready certification will change periodically". Finally, the mayor of Chipiona also stresses that the project is important because it allows not only to save lives in Chipiona, but also in more municipalities when they can transmit all their results. "We have made several telematic meetings with mayors of other towns such as Chiclana, Cadiz, Rota, even some of the Algarve and our idea is to continue to carry out meetings of this style also with Portugal, Morocco and the Canary Islands, which would also be affected by the tsunami wave and are already sensitized." https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5019601/0/asi-se-prepara-espana-frente-a-los-tsunamis-solo-tenemos-una-hora-para-actuar-hasta-que-llegue-una-ola-de-5-metros/