First exercise on tsunami risk in Italy with the Prefecture of Latina and ten coastal Municipalities of the Province, organized by the Regional Civil Protection Agency with the collaboration of DPC, INGV and ISPRA
It took place yesterday, October 10, TSUNEXTT, the civil defense exercise for Command Posts which involved the coastal Municipalities of the Province of Latina, organized by the Regional Civil Protection Agency of Lazio in agreement with the Prefecture of Latina.
During the morning, the exercise simulated one emergency situation connected to a tsunami event generated off the coast of Calabria by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake at a depth of 10 km, with the aim of testing the activation and communication flows between the various operational and command structures that have to manage the emergency and the models of intervention of the individual Municipalities involved. It is the first time in Italy that an exercise system has been activated for a tsunami event.
During the exercise, the alert system was also tested SiAM platform (National Tsunami Alert System) managed, at national level, by the Civil Protection Department (DPC) in collaboration with the Tsunami Alert Center of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CAT-INGV) and the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection (ISPRA).
In addition to the Regional Civil Protection Agency and the Prefecture, the Municipalities of Fondi, Formia, Gaeta, Itri, Latina, Minturno, Ponza, Sabaudia, Terracina and Ventotene also participated in the exercise, for a total of about 100 people who they interacted to better manage the event. Officials from the DPC, INGV and the Regional Agency were present as observers.
The SiAM messaging system requires that, a few minutes after the event communicated by the INGV CAT, a series of alert messages (the first), confirmation messages (the subsequent ones) and event end messages (the last one) are sent to all the Mayors of the coastal Municipalities, the Prefectures, the Operational Structures and the Civil Protections of the Regions in order to activate the evacuation and assistance mechanism for the population involved.
During yesterday's exercise, the Orange alert message (Advisory) arrived at 9.32 am: this message foresees a certain flooding from the sea of coastal areas which may affect bathing establishments, road systems and residential and productive areas, identified on the basis of Tsunami Risk Maps produced at a national level by ISPRA.
Once the alert message was received, the Municipalities activated their Municipal Operational Centers (COC), communicating the immediate needs at different times to the Prefecture and the Regional Operations Room following the first damage assessments and evacuation of the population. At the same time, the Rescue Coordination Center (CCS) was activated in the Prefecture, coordinated by the Prefect Maria Rosa Trio, which with all the Operating Structures involved (Carabinieri, Police, Guardia di Finanza, ARES 118, ASL, Red Cross, Port Authority and Civil Protection Agency) coordinated the emergency phases and the actions required by the exercise room (EXCON) of the Agency, which handled requests for support from exercise participants.
After the first warning message, another three messages confirming the event were sent - between 9.32 and 12.10 - to the Administrations and Bodies who had to report on the methods of intervention and assistance to the population. At 12.34 the "Event end" message was sent.
“The exercise – says the Prefect of Latina Maria Rosa Trio – made it possible to test the activation and communication flows between all the structures involved in the management of an emergency event and to make the Mayors aware of the importance of correct municipal civil protection planning in the event of events that require rapid response in the assistance to the population. A debriefing meeting will be convened in the coming days to discuss the activity carried out and the strengths and weaknesses that have characterized the different phases of the exercise".
“The Agency – he explains Carmelo Tulumello, Director of the Regional Civil Protection Agency – in this month of October it was engaged in a series of exercises in all our provinces which demonstrated how important it is to stimulate Local Authorities and the population to grow the culture of prevention and the culture of civil protection. Knowing the risks and practicing to face them allows us to be able to reduce damage and loss of human life in a possible emergency".
“The test organized by the Regional Civil Protection Agency – he specifies Luigi D'Angelo, Emergency Operations Director of the National Department – it was very useful for verifying the effectiveness of the computerized procedure for sending alert messages to the structures involved, with the aim of increasing knowledge of the procedures and being prepared in the event of an emergency. We hope that the other coastal Regions will be able to organize similar exercises as soon as possible in order to increase preparation and awareness of the tsunami risk in Italy".
“It was a very important test to verify the flow of information that would be activated in the event of a tsunami event in Italy – he underlines Alessandro Amato, head of the INGV Tsunami Alert Center – We have simulated an earthquake on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria capable of triggering a tsunami which would reach the Lazio coast in less than half an hour. The first alert message, issued a few minutes after the event, was followed by three more confirmations with sea level data from the ISPRA tide gauge network that our CAT-INGV shift workers analyze in real time. It is essential to conduct this type of test for the Italian coasts, all exposed (some to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent) to the tsunami danger. We hope that other Regions and Prefectures will soon follow the example of the coastal Municipalities of the province of Latina".
“The exercise – he concludes Antonio Colombi, organizer of the exercise and Official of the Regional Civil Protection Agency – it served to make the Municipalities understand what needs to be done for correct tsunami risk management, but also to test the flow of alerts and communications that an event like this requires quickly and effectively among all the structures involved".
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