A National Tsunami Exercise using a long-distance tsunami scenario is being carried out in the Solomon Islands today.
The exercise is mainly aimed at testing the effectiveness of emergency response arrangements at the community, provincial and national levels.The exercise will involve provincial emergency centres of Tulagi in the Central Province, Buala in the Isabel province and Afio in the Malaita Provinces and various other villages identified for the exercise.
NDMO Director Loti Yates stated that the exercise will use a scenario where the tsunami has been generated from Ecuador in South America.
On the choice of scenario, Mr Yates says a lot of people hold a wrong belief that tsunami's generated by earthquakes in countries faraway from Solomon Islands will not reach Solomon Islands.
The NDMO Director also advises communities that the tsunami warning alert is only for exercise and testing purposes and the N-D-M-O do not want people to panic.