The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and authorities at the island of Kos will carry out a tsunami emergency drill on November 19, 2019 to test the Tsunami Last Mile (TLM) warning and response services that were set up at the Dodecanese island last August.
The capital of Kos was hit by a tsunami following an earthquake of 6.6 R on July 20, 2017. The earthquake claimed the lives of two people.
The drill will take place at 9 am on Tuesday, when the Hellenic National Tsunami Warning Centre’s signal receptors will simulate the 2017 tsunami feedback data, after which students at Kos’ 3rd Junior School and 1st Junior High School, as well as staff at a local hotel, will all evacuate and gather at a specific location.
TLM is an ongoing project in cooperation with JRC and the municipality of Kos funded by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO) for the assessment of tsunami risk and the development of a local seismic and tsunami warning system in Kos.
JRC is the European Commission’s science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy.
The Hellenic National Tsunami Warning Centre (HL-NTWC) is a unit of the Institute of Geodynamics of the National Observatory of Athens and besides conducting research and training, it also provides tsunami warning services on a 24/7 basis for Greece and the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Two screens warning of tsunami were installed on Kos in last August, as part of a pilot European Union funded program. Local businessmen and hoteliers were upset the screens may harm the tourist industry on the island in the Dodecanese.
