Data Center: CATAC

The Central American Tsunami Advisory Center (CATAC) established at INETER, Managua, Nicaragua, provides tsunami services for the Central American countries (Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama) within the framework of IOC/UNESCO (Pacific Tsunami Warning System PTWS and Caribbean Tsunami Warning System CARIBE TWS). It receives seismic waveform data in real time from around 500 seismic stations in Central America and surrounding areas. It detects and characterizes earthquakes and identifies the possible generation of tsunami. The possible impact of the tsunami is evaluated with geophysical and oceanographic methods and parameters like tsunami arrival time and amplitudes are predicted and communicated to the scientific and civil protection institutions responsible for tsunamis warning in the Central American countries.