Is Costa Rica prepared for a tsunami?

Officials from emergency response agencies will participate on Wednesday in a simulated tsunami drill in the Caribbean province of Limón, along with authorities from other Central American countries, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean islands, and coastal areas of the United States and Canada.

The objective of the exercise is to assess mechanisms of information management and response to a tsunami threat, including the response to warnings issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), the National Emergency Commission (CNE) reported on its website.

In Costa Rica, the drill will take place for four hours, beginning at CNE headquarters in San José, as soon as the PTWC alert is received.

The CNE Communications Center will then activate all internal and national protocols.

The information must be transmitted to all operational levels – political, technical and scientific – starting with CNE top officials who will decide appropriate actions to follow.

Possible measures to be ordered include the activation of the Technical Coastal Marine Advisory Committee, all municipal emergency committees in the Caribbean region and the entire Operations Department at CNE.

The final results will be shared among all participating countries.