North-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Home

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG/NEAMTWS) was formed in response to the tragic tsunami on 26 December  2004, in which over 250,000 lives were lost around the Indian Ocean region. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) received a mandate from the international community to coordinate the establishment of the System during the course of several international and regional meetings, including the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (Kobe, Japan, 18 – 22 January 2005), and the Phuket Ministerial Meeting on Regional Cooperation on Tsunami Early Warning Arrangements (Phuket, Thailand, 28 and 29 January 2005). The IOC Assembly, during its twenty-third Session (21-30 June 2005), formally established the ICG/NEAMTWS through Resolution IOC-XXIII-14. The guidelines for the NEAMTWS activities are compiled in the NEAMTWS Implementation Plan.

Chairperson

Maria Ana Baptista  (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Portugal)

Vice-chairperson

Costas Synolakis (Division of Natural Sciences, Academy of Athens, Greece)

Working Groups and Task Teams 

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group meets regularly to establish and implement working plans in the NEAM region. To address specific technical issues (terms of reference) it has formed four working groups and three task teams:

Working Group 1 - Hazard Assessment and Modelling - Co-chairs: Mauricio González (University of  Cantabria, Spain) and Audrey Gailler (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, France)

Working Group 2 and 3- Seismic, Geophysical and Sea Level Measurements and Sea Level Data Collection and Exchange, Including Offshore Tsunami Detection and Instruments - Co-chairs: Anna von Gyldenfeldt (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, Germany) and Didem Cambaz (Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Turkey)

Working Group 4 - Public Awareness, Preparedness and Mitigation - Chair: Cecilia Valbonesi (Universita Degli Studi di Firenze, Italy)

Task Team on Tsunami Exercises- Co-chairs: Ceren Ozer Sozdinler (Gebze Teknik Universitesi, Turkey) and Marinos Charalampakis (National Observatory of Athens, Greece)

Task Team on Operations- Co-chairs: Alessio Piatanesi (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy) and Fernando Carrilho (Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Portugal)

Task Team on Documentation-Co-chairs: Nikos Kalligeris(National Observatory of Athens, Greece) and Stefano Lorito (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Roma, Italy)

Task Team on Tsunami Ready- Co-chairs:Ignacio Aguirre Ayerbe (Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de Cantabria, Spain) and Elena Daskalaki (National Observatory of Athens, Greece)

Working Group on Tsunamis and Other Hazards Related to Sea-Level Warning and Mitigation Systems (TOWS-WG)

Task Team on Disaster Management and Preparedness- Co-chairs: Cecilia Valbonesi (Universita Degli Studi di Firenze, Italy) and Marinos Charalampakis (National Observatory of Athens, Greece)

Task Team on Tsunami Watch Operations- Co-chairs: Hélène Hébert (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, France) and Alessio Piatanesi ((Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Roma, Italy) 

Secretariat

Technical Secretary: Denis Chang Seng
IOC/UNESCO
7 Place de Fontenoy
Paris
France