Activities with Seychelles Canada-UNESCO tsunami expedition

ESS contact for international business development:
International Relations Manager

Boat tied to goalpost on soccer field at Northeast Point, Mahé Island. Grass in foreground is flattened and strewn with fine marine organic debris. Photo: GSC, 23 Jan 2005.

Following the tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004, experts from the Earth Sciences Sector's Geological Survey of Canada visited Seychelles to evaluate the effects of the disaster on this group of islands in the Indian Ocean. ESS experts were asked to join the international scientific response that sought to document the tsunami. The work was done under the auspices of the International Tsunami Society and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

ESS scientists visited two islands in the Seychelles archipelago (Mahé and Praslin) to assess the impact of the tsunami through field surveys of the tsunami run-up and inundation at sites along the coasts. Scientists also obtained information about the tsunami's impact through interviews with eyewitnesses and by collecting digital photographs and video. Government officials and the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation supplied documentary material as well. The team gathered information on impacts in other parts of the Seychelles archipelago through contacts in those locations.

The Seychelles study helps to promote ESS as an international centre of expertise and excellence for natural hazard study and mitigation. As well, experience and insights gained through this study can be applied to the understanding of tsunami hazards along the western and eastern coasts of Canada.

ESS created a report on the team's findings in the Seychelles Archipelago, which includes scientific data, accounts of eyewitness es and photographs documenting the impact. It will soon be officially published as Geological Survey of Canada open file report 4935. A preliminary version can be viewed on the UNESCO website.

Project partners: Earth Sciences Sector, Seychelles government and state corporations, the International Tsunami Society and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO

Project contact: International Relations Manager

For more information:

Preliminary Report of the Canada-UNESCO Indian Ocean Tsunami Expedition