New tsunami warning agreement with Italy

Italy has become the 16th country to sign a tsunami warning agreement with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), allowing it to receive real-time monitoring data to help warn the public more quickly and precisely in case of approaching danger.

The agreement with the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - INGV) was marked on 20 September in a signature ceremony at CTBTO’s Vienna headquarters. The Rome-based INGV, which hosts Italy’s national tsunami warning centre, will receive data from the CTBTO’s International Monitoring System (IMS) stations.

The CTBTO now has a total of 17 tsunami warning agreements in 16 countries : Australia, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Portugal, Thailand, Turkey, Russia and the United States.

The CTBTO has been providing real-time, reliable data on a test basis to tsunami warning centres around the globe since March 2005. The data come from around 100 IMS stations in high tsunami risk areas.

The wealth of verification data captured by the IMS to detect nuclear tests also has a variety of important civil and scientific applications which – in addition to the CTBT’s verification purpose – can contribute to sustainable development and human well-being.

Italy hosts one IMS monitoring station, Auxiliary Seismic Station AS050 in Valguarnera, Sicily, plus a Radionuclide Laboratory, RL10, at the Laboratory of the National Agency for the Protection of the Environment in Rome.

A technical agreement was concluded today between

Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili Sabbatini, Permanent Representative of Italy, at the signature ceremony.

Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili Sabbatini, Permanent Representative of Italy, Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo and CTBTO staff at the signature ceremony.

Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili Sabbatini, Permanent Representative of Italy and Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo at the signature ceremony.