Tsunami alert: know how much time you have to escape? – TVI24

Portugal successfully tested, this Thursday, a device tsunami warning. The first installation and testing took place in Setúbal, the hands of the experts from the Joint Research Centre of the European Community, Italy. Can you tell four minutes before the arrival of the first wave.

“The warning device was tested this morning, with the help of a mechanical tsunami simulator, having fired immediately and the information panel the sirens of Albarquel Urban Park ‘secured project leader, Alessandro Annunziato, quoted by Lusa.

“Some people who heard the sirens spooked up and even called the firefighters, because they still did not know such a warning system, “he added.

warning device “can be activated automatically but also manually whenever the authorities deem it necessary to evacuate the place.”

As works

Comprising a system of measuring sea level, installed along the pier secil, about three kilometers of Setubal, and a touch panel on the Albarquel Urban Park, allows the system to warn the population in the riparian zone of Setubal with four minutes prior to the arrival of the first wave.

This interval reaction time of four minutes, may increase significantly in the future with the interconnection of other measuring sea installed along the Portuguese coast level.

Funding comes from the EU, but there are other more immediate priorities

Despite the success of the tests performed in Setúbal, the project leader acknowledged that it will take some time until the coastal areas of Portugal and other European countries benefit from these devices.

“The tsunami warning system is funded by the European Commission, but this time, there are other priorities in Europe, such as employment,” said Alessandro Annunziato.

installation of tsunamis in Setúbal, a project initiated in 2011 warning system is part of the European strategy for research aimed at improving mechanisms for disaster warning and reduce the time transmission of alerts to populations at risk.

Look to the past to better face the future

In Portugal, the head of the national tsunami warning system is the entity Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA), which communicates all alerts it receives to the National Authority for Civil Protection (ANPC), which, in turn, alert the population at risk.

The riverside town of Setúbal was completely destroyed after the tsunami that followed the earthquake of 1755, as happened in the riverside area of ​​Lisbon.

According to some studies conducted in Portugal, a similar earthquake in 1755 could trigger a wave with seven feet high, which could destroy the entire area of ​​the historic center and enter 800 meters within the city, until the area of ​​the Park Bonfuim.