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Joint Tsunami Commission

Status

The Tsunami Commission is jointly sponsored by IASPEI, IAPSO and IAVCEI. It was established at the 12th General Assembly of IUGG in Helsinki, Finland in 1960 to promote the exchange of scientific and technical information about tsunamis among nations concerned with the tsunami hazard. Since then, the Commission has held 24 Tsunami Symposia, both as part of IUGG General Assemblies and independently in alternate years.

Scope

The Tsunami Commission is an international group of scientists concerned with various aspects of tsunamis, including an improved understanding of the dynamics of generation, propagation and coastal run-up and the consequences to society of the tsunami hazard.

The Tsunamis are generated by various submarine processes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and submarine landslides, so that research is necessarily interdisciplinary, requiring studies that include the fields of seismology, volcanology, marine geology and geophysics, and hydrodynamics.

The Tsunami research can take the form of theoretical studies, numerical and physical modeling, and field observations acquired in the deep ocean, in offshore waters and along coastlines. Research on past tsunamis includes the identification of tsunami evidence in geological records or historical documents, and efforts to reduce the hazard include tsunami risk evaluation, countermeasures, public education, and other mitigation programs.

Activities

Hold International Tsunami Symposium every two years. When IUGG GA is held, ITS will be a part of IUGG sessions. At the years between IUGG meetings, ITS may be held independently, or jointly with one of IASPEI, IAVCEI, or IAPSO meetings. Advertise, organize and program the ITS or tsunami session at the above meetings.

The selected papers presented at the ITS (or IUGG Tsunami Session) have been published as proceeding volumes. Call for papers, edit (review process) and publish the papers.

In case of tsunami events, organize and dispatch International Tsunami Survey Team and exchange information.

Form working groups as needed to promote research activity or support outreach of research results.

Daily communication is made through the Tsunanmi Bulletin Board, hosted by ITIC.

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Last modified: April 23, 2012
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