Mega mock tsunami exercise: 24 nations participate

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Europe

Twenty four nations bordering the Indian Ocean are taking part in tsunami exercises organized by the Inter-government Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO on September 4, 5 with the aim to test the effectiveness of the local systems and the implemented mechanisms to cope with such disaster.

The drill, known as IOWave18, will evacuate hundreds of thousands of people along the coastal areas in dozens of states.

"The exercise will simulate Indian Ocean countries being put in a tsunami warning situation and require the National Tsunami Warning Center and the national and local disaster management offices in each country to implement their Standard Operating Procedures", according to the UNESCO.

Waterlogged rice fields, completely destroyed after 2004 tsunami /VCG Photo

In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami, followed by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded, killed over 200,000 people, destroying entire communities in that region. Residents, animals, houses, vegetation, almost everything was drowned in billions of tonnes of seawater.

The two-day exercise will help enhance disaster preparedness response capabilities, as well as the coordination among these nations so that people in high-risk areas are able to keep the danger at bay.