The Officer in Charge Pacific Island Forum Secretariat,
Head Of UNDRR Pacific,
Visiting Partners,
Members of the Media,
Invited Guests,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Ni sa bula Vinaka
It gives me enormous pleasure to join you all this morning, and to officially open the 2023 National Disaster Awareness Week, Academic Session, the first of many exciting activities planned for the days ahead for the National Disaster Awareness Week.
It is with equal pleasure that I open today’s Academic Session that coincides with the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction or IDRR Day, today the 13th of October.
The 13th of October, designated as IDRR Day by the United Nations General Assembly, is today marked with an Academic Session which I have been advised to focus on disaster risk reduction & preparedness, and specifically on earthquake and tsunami hazards.
The Day’s and awareness week theme is ‘Fighting Inequality For A Resilient Future’, and is aligned well with the Sendai Framework, the international agreement to prevent and reduce losses in lives, livelihoods, economies and basic infrastructure. It is a Call to Action for, ‘more dedicated actions which needs to be focused on tackling underlying disaster risk drivers, such as the consequences of poverty and inequality’ and states that: ‘disaster risk reduction requires an all-of-society engagement and partnership’. It also requires empowerment and inclusive, accessible and non-discriminatory participation, paying special attention to people disproportionately affected by disasters, especially the poorest, disabilities, and our elderly population.
In keeping with the theme, the National Disaster Awareness Week is hoping to addressing this destructive power of hazards—in other words, stop them from turning into disasters—through careful and coordinated pro-active planning and preparedness that is designed to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to harm. In other words, we are hoping to stop these sudden onset earthquake and tsunami hazards from turning into disasters.
Ladies and gentlemen, as Pacific Island Countries (PICS) we are in the “Ring of Fire,” an area characterized by frequent tectonic activity, making it susceptible to earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. Earthquakes can result in building collapses, landslides, and infrastructure damage, while tsunamis can devastate coastal communities and pose a significant risk to lives and properties.
According to the Global Tsunami database from 1620 BC to A.D. 2022, 80% of deadly tsunamis are generated by earthquakes, 7% by earthquake generated landslides, 6% by volcanic eruptions, 5% by landslides and 2 % by others.
20% of these deadly tsunami sources are from Japan, 15% from South Pacific Islands, 7% from North and Central America, 7% from South America, 6% from Asia, 5% from Russia, 5% from Indonesia, 4% from Alaska and less than 1% from Hawaii.
In terms of historical trans-oceanic tsunamis, 69% of world tsunamis generated in the Pacific and marginal seas. However, 99% of deaths in the Pacific caused by local and regional tsunamis.
The seismicity characteristics of earthquakes in Fiji shows that earthquakes are predominantly caused by strike slip faulting mechanisms at transform boundaries and from reverse/normal faulting along trenches. Majority of these earthquakes have shallow depth impacts with medium magnitude.
Despite these statistics it gives me relief to know that a great deal has been achieved in terms of earthquake and tsunami preparedness through careful and coordinated planning with other agencies.
On this note, I take this time to acknowledge the professional work carried out by the National Tsunami Warning Centre, the Seismology Unit of the Ministry of Lands & Mineral Resources. The team at our National Tsunami Warning Centre, ensure that we receive timely alerts and warnings for geological events so that we can take appropriate action for these.
In addition to this, they continue to provide the technical and scientific guidance to that adequately advice our policy and planning around earthquake and tsunami hazards.
To date, there is a National Tsunami Response Plan available which will be tested thoroughly over the next few days, in particular, the warning systems, evacuations and additional tsunami support services such as marine and urban search and rescue, medical triage and disaster victim identification.
In 2021, the Mineral Resources Department (MRD) and National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) reviewed the National Tsunami Warning and Response SOP with the support of UNESCO/IOC, ITIC/NOAA, GNS NZ and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC).
It was identified that tsunamis generated from Tonga and Vanuatu can reach Fiji in less than sixty (60) minutes. For example, the recent Hunga-Tonga Hunga Ha’apai Volcanic Eruption/Tsunami wave reached the Lau group in 30-35 minutes. Tsunami’s that arrive in less than 60 minutes are classified as local tsunamis. These local tsunamis are deadly as they do not allow for sufficient time for official warning to reach at-risk population.
As participants at this Academic Session, but more importantly as disaster practitioners, I encourage you to take this opportunity to share your experiences that will assist not only the NDMO but your agencies to improve your own systems, processes and capabilities toward earthquake and tsunami preparedness.
Of course, in the days to follow, this plan and accompanying SOPs including your internal arrangements will be tested and I encourage you to learn as much as you can, share recommendations but more importantly, implement the lessons learnt.
In closing, I wish to remind us all that the Fiji Meteorological Services has issued the Tropical Cyclone Seasonal Outlook for 2023-2024 and they have predicted that at least two to three cyclones will pass through our Exclusive Economic Zone, of which one or two of these cyclones is expected to be above category three or more. Their predictions also confirms that all parts of the country are equally at risk.
Therefore, I wish to stress again the importance of preparedness. One simple act of preparedness such as making and practising a family disaster plan or saving an emergency contact, can easily save a life and safeguard years of hard-earned investment. We all know that tropical cyclones and its associated hazards will impact our nation, but more importantly, we must know what to do when they happen.
I wish you a fruitful deliberation and officially open this Academic Session.
Thank You, Vinaka Vakalevu and Dhanyavaad!