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Why develop a system?
On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia. This triggered destructive tsunami waves that impacted the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, as well as other countries in the Indian Ocean region. There was both an international and Canadian response to this tragedy.
Here in Canada, it was recognized the East Coast lacked a tsunami warning system. While the West Coast receives tsunami warnings via the internationally-coordinated Pacific Tsunami Warning System, there was no equivalent system for the Atlantic Coast. Even though over 70 per cent of tsunami events occur in the Pacific Ocean, due diligence demands that some detection and warning capability also be available on Canada’s Atlantic Coast and Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is important to remember the most devastating Canadian tsunami originated on the Grand Banks in 1929 - leaving 29 people dead, many people homeless, and 50 communities affected in Newfoundland and Labrador and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Who has been involved in the development of the Canadian Atlantic Tsunami Warning System?
The development of this system has involved both the Canadian and United States governments and has been done in consultation with provincial emergency management organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) led the initiative, along with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Environment Canada (EC), Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC), and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The system will continue to be refined as further infrastructure is developed and international initiatives progress.
The existing procedure used by the EC Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre (ASPC) to issue surge and other weather-related warnings has been significantly enhanced to now include tsunami warnings. The cost of this upgrade is approximately $250,000 and ongoing additional costs are projected to be about $125,000 per year. The improved system will also augment the capacity to predict storm surges, which are a frequent event on the East Coast.
How does the system work?
NRCan, through its Geological Survey of Canada, has enhanced the real-time sharing of seismic data from Atlantic Canada with earthquake/tsunami experts at the U.S. NOAA. Whenever warranted, these experts will relay to the ASPC, the information needed to immediately distribute Atlantic tsunami alerts (warnings, watches and information bulletins) to provincial and federal emergency management authorities, the media and the public in the five easternmost provinces. As well, the Canadian Coast Guard’s Marine Communications Traffic Services (CCG-MCTS) will broadcast tsunami alerts to mariners.
DFO has upgraded several Atlantic sea level gauges to collect tsunami-quality data, which the ASPC can monitor for indications of a tsunami and, in consultation with DFO and NRCan, determine the extent of the danger. Once a warning is issued, PSEPC will coordinate any response effort among federal departments and provincial and territorial emergency management organizations.
The ASPC will typically start the warning dissemination process 10-20 minutes after the earthquake event. This is comparable with warning times on the Pacific coast.
Next steps
There are plans in place to test the Atlantic tsunami warning system regularly and refine it.
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