Junta approves tsunami emergency plan after analysing all of its buildings along Andalusian coastline

When compared to the rest of the world, Andalucía's risk of tsunamis is only moderate, but when evaluated on a national scale, it is the region with the highest risk.

This has sparked the Junta to draw up an emergency plan after analysing one by one all of the buildings along Andalucía's extensive coastline, which totals more than 900 kilometres.

The plan, which includes evacuation procedures, has included simulations of response times to the possibility of tidal waves off the Andalusian coast.

The two provinces next to the Atlantic coast - Huelva and Cadiz - are the ones with the highest risk index, as it is estimated that tidal waves could reach a maximum of 12 metres and the evacuation time, once the first warnings have been issued, could be between 45 and 60 minutes.

On the Mediterranean side, waves could reach a maximum of five metres, but with shorter evacuation times, the time to act would be reduced to between 20 and 30 minutes.

According to regional minister Antonio Sanz it is most likely that Andalucía will never experience this natural phenomenon. The last incident dates back to 1755 on the coasts of Cadiz and Huelva - but he said that it is still necessary to work on prevention. Andalucía is the first region to have a plan of this type, in which the 62 councils of coastal municipalities with local emergency plans will now be involved.

Coordination

The plan consists of evacuation routes on 500 beaches in Andalucía, as well as a hazard map with a risk analysis following the work that has been carried out in collaboration with the European Space Agency and with the use of its satellites.

Sanz said this analysis made it possible to draw up a building-by-building map, which, according to the councillor, is the first work of its kind internationally.