Bermuda To Participate In Tsunami Exercise

March 18, 2013

Bermuda will participate in an Atlantic tsunami warning exercise “LANTEX CARIBE WAVE” this Wednesday [Mar 20], in conjunction with other countries in the region.

The exercise will simulate an undersea earthquake or landslide, resulting in tsunami waves being directed towards Bermuda and other jurisdictions in the northwest Atlantic. Exercises are also planned for the Gulf Of Mexico, to be carried out on the same day.

Residents should not be alarmed to note the Exercise Warnings posted via the Bermuda Weather Channel on CableVision and WOW, the weather telephone recordings [977, 9771, 9772, and 9773], www.weather.bm or broadcast via VHF Radio. Residents should however, note the relevant information contained within the exercise warnings and take the opportunity to think about their state of readiness, should such an actual event occur.

There are active earthquake and volcano zones in the Caribbean, and historical tsunamis have been documented in the Atlantic also. The low frequency of these events is disarming, but the potentially devastating effects warrant at least a basic action plan.

Bermuda has recorded a tsunami locally in November 1929, when Flatts experienced a “sudden inrush of water, an equally rapid receding, and the final flow back to normal lasting some time” [quote from the Royal Gazette and Colonist Daily, 21 November 1929].

Only after a few days did word reach Bermuda of the cause of this event, an undersea earthquake and landslide off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, producing a tsunami which killed dozens in the Maritimes of Canada. Thankfully, no fatalities were recorded inBermuda, but the increase in population and coastal infrastructure indicates a higher vulnerability to this hazard than ever before.

This exercise will not only afford local agencies an opportunity to exercise their communications procedures, it also allows for the general public to test their own readiness.

Participants in this exercise include the Bermuda Weather Service [operated by BAS-Serco Ltd. on behalf of the Government of Bermuda Department of Airport Operations], Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre, and the Bermuda Police Service.

If any real tsunami threat occurs during the time period of the exercise, the exercise will be terminated. The exercise is sponsored the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and by the U.S. National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program.

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Comments (10)

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  1. Keepin' it Real...4Real! says:

    WTF!!!…ur not surious!!…exercise??…wat a F#@kin’joke if that s#!t ever happens, you better know how to Kitesurf…Caution DO NOT WATCH THIS…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMH5YyJu8GQ
    If you cannot handle the truth.

  2. SoMuchMore says:

    and for those who do not know about this exercise, they’re gonna me in for a treat. i hope they wear a diaper or depends and have tissues cause they are gonna sh*t themselves thinking its real.

    come on we all know how we act LOL.

    let’s go wednesday, let’s go. LOL

    • marisa says:

      just hope they don’t go overboard and do something crazy. But yes it’s going to be a real treat for those who don’t know about it.

  3. john says:

    If there were a real tsunami we would probably do the same thing that we did when we had that one arriving from Dockyard a few years ago!

  4. REALEST says:

    THIS IS A SET UP

  5. Fruity says:

    …interesting! In the event this was real, would our island really stand a chance?? Doubt it! Real but thoughts I rather not have. :(

  6. Orbit says:

    Got my emergency spliff ready to go just in case.

  7. LOL!! says:

    What a way to do a Clean Sweep!!

  8. Fruity says:

    I take it this went well..?