TEHRAN - The seventh Indian Ocean-wide tsunami exercise (Exercise IOWave23) will be held on October 25 along Makran coasts, southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The exercise will simulate Indian Ocean countries being put in a tsunami warning situation and require each country to implement its standard operating procedures. The exercise will test preparedness for responding to tsunamis generated by seismic and non-seismic (volcanic) events.

Regular exercises are important for maintaining staff readiness for the real event. This is especially true for tsunamis, which are infrequent but require rapid response when they occur.

The scenario will simulate a magnitude 9 earthquake off the Makran coast, IRNA quoted Ali Khoshkholq, an official with the National Institute of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences, as saying.

In addition to testing standard operating procedures and communication links at all levels of the warning chain, a primary objective of Exercise IOWave23 is to enhance tsunami preparedness at the community level. 

It raises the level of international cooperation between the countries along the Indian Ocean as well.

The Islamic Republic of Iran had participated in the previous tsunami exercises; including (lOWave16) in 2015 and (lOWave18) in 2017.

Unfortunately, Iran did not participate in the 2020 exercises due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

This year, Iran is going to take part in this exercise with the predicted hypothetical scenario, starting at 09:30 on Wednesday, October 25, that will simulate an earthquake with a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale in the Makran trench of the North-West Indian Ocean, which is capable of causing fierce floods by tsunami waves.

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

Established in 1997, the Indian Ocean Rim Association is a dynamic inter-governmental organization aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region through its 23 member states and nine dialogue partners.

Home to nearly 2.7 billion people, the member states, whose shores are washed by the ocean, include Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Oman, South Africa, Thailand, and Iran.

1st intl. conference on tropical cyclones

Climate change has caused a gradual rise in the occurrence of tropical storms and their frequency is increasing more and more, Sahar Tajbakhsh, the head of the Iran Metrological Organization has said.

She made the remarks on the sidelines of the First International Conference on Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones, which was held on October 9-10 at the Research Institute of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (RIMAS).

The Conference was held virtually with the theme of "Early Warning for Everyone".

“The main objectives are to synergize and exchange experiences in the field of monitoring and predicting tropical cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean region, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tropical Cyclone Program known as (TCP),” IRIB quoted Mehdi Rahnama, the head of RIMAS, as saying.

Besides, the conference aimed to showcase the latest scientific achievements related to climate change and its consequences on the areas affected by tropical storms and to inform the members of the effects and consequences of sea storms.

Also, it would try to find the most appropriate solutions to deal with tropical storms’ economic, social, and environmental effects; their impact on maritime transport, and their coastal and marine uses.

Rahnama added, “Holding this conference will help to develop the necessary infrastructure for the monitoring network, database, and forecasting calculation models, as well as developing the necessary infrastructure for Early Warning Systems.”

MT/MG