PEDRR quarterly seminar series: 'Tsunamis in Lake Geneva? Some lessons from Japan'

Background

In October 2012, a paper on "Giant Lake Geneva Tsunami in AD 543" published in Nature Geoscience received considerable international attention. However, six months later, most people in Geneva, amongst both the general population and policymakers, do not see a tsunami in Lake Geneva as a credible risk scenario to warrant taking major risk reduction measures. Yet, the tsunami, which occurred in Lake Geneva 1'500 years ago, caused a 14-meter wave, destroying early settlements around the lake. The populations around Lake Geneva remain vulnerable to similar events even today, but there are no early warning systems or tsunami evacuation plans in place.

Overview

The first session entitled "Tsunamis in Lake Geneva? Some Lessons from Japan" will bring together Katrina Kremer, the lead author of this scientific paper and Radhika Murti, Programme Coordinator - Disaster Risk Reduction at the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who studied the actions taken by the Government of Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, to debate if there are lessons to be learnt on disaster risk reduction from past catastrophic events. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy, Senior Programme Officer - Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Environment Programme.

The session will reflect on societies' perception of risk, how much risk from natural hazards their society is willing to accept, and eco-solutions to reducing risks from natural hazard events.