Plans are underway for the implementation of a formal tsunami early warning system for the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) is currently in talks with various partners including the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, the University of Puerto Rico Seismic Network, the University of USVI and the Seismic Research Unit at the University of the West Indies on the establishment of such an early warning system for the region.

CDERA coordinator, Jeremy Collymore said an existing Intra-Americas Sea Tsunami Warning System (IAS TWS) already exists in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, but that the system was now being widened to include the rest of the Caribbean.

?The basic framework can be used for an early warning system in the region which comprises equipment such as tidal gauges established by the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change, an early warning system at Kick ?em Jenny underwater volcano, located eight kilometres north of Grenada. And this network of tidal gauges is at the disposal of the region as part of the backbone for an early warning system,? he said.

However, Mr. Collymore added that the availability of funding would ultimately determine how quickly such a system could be implemented.

?The events from the Indian Ocean underwater earthquake have emphasised the vulnerability of the Small Island Developing States and should further justify the call for their special consideration in support of sustainable development interventions,? he said.

He said it also highlighted the importance of addressing critical threats to the region other than the hurricane hazard.

?The seismic events present their own set of challenges as the potential impact of these hazards can be quite devastating,? he said.

CDERA has recognised the need for the region to accelerate its level of preparedness to deal with these events and is supporting this through strengthening of the Agency?s search and rescue capability and volcanic contingency planning.

Tsunamis are triggered by underwater earthquakes, underwater volcanoes, landslides, land-based volcano eruptions and meteor strikes, so they can occur in the Caribbean, but the probability is low

He said there were two known potential sources that could generate tsunamis in the Caribbean and they include Tectonic earthquakes occurring underwater, as was the case in the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

Mr. Collymore said for these to generate a tsunami, the quake has to be at a magnitude of at least 7.0 on the Richter Scale and caused a dip slip on the plane of movement at 1,000 meters or more.

In the past 500 years only four such earthquakes have generated tsunamis in the Caribbean region and the maximum height of these waves have been two meters and is therefore considered a low probability.

?Volcanoes such as the underwater volcano Kick ?em Jenny near Grenada, or a flank collapse from an onshore volcano such as Cumbre Vieja on La Palma, Canary Islands poses no threat now or in the immediate future,? he said.

However, the greatest known seismic threats to the Caribbean are from terrestrial volcanoes and earthquakes.

Mr. Collymore urged members of the public of its 16 member states to familiarise themselves with volcano and earthquake preparedness measures so they would know how to safeguard themselves.