Business News Americas | March 18, 2011 | Patrick Nixon
Certain countries in the Caribbean are implementing an advanced communications system called Common Alerting Protocols (CAP), which allows automatic, multimedia distribution of information in the case of tsunamis, earthquakes and other natural disasters, Bernardo Aliaga, a tsunami specialist with the UN educational, scientific and cultural organization (Unesco), told BNamericas.
“It’s a server that has a modem for distributing fax, text messages, emails, messages via radio and even via satellite phones. That’s the most advanced technology there is in terms of alert and emergency distribution systems,” Aliaga said.
Given that this system can run over a broad range of media, it is designed as a failsafe in case traditional communications networks are down.
Unesco announced Thursday (Mar 17) that some 33 countries are preparing to participate in a March 23 simulated tsunami alert exercise in the Caribbean. The goal is to test an alert system called the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions.
Aliaga said the tsunami exercise has been at the planning stage for more than a year, but the tsunami in Japan pushed authorities to test it now.
……
Read full article here via Business News Americas
