A large-scale security exercise is planned for Friday afternoon, in Frontignan (Hérault), announces the Hérault prefecture: this full-scale test will make it possible to test the evacuation and sheltering of residents of the coast, if a tsunami broke into the Mediterranean. This exercise will also make it possible to test the FR-Alert tool, which allows the population to be warned of imminent danger, via a mobile notification.
“The tsunami risk is very real in the Mediterranean due to the meeting of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian plate and the African plate: two plates which continue to converge, generating a significant seismic risk,” details the Hérault prefecture, which specifies that “beaches, ports and urbanized areas close to the sea could be affected”, if such a disaster were to one day occur.
The services of the prefecture, police and firefighters, as well as the Tsunami Warning Center and agents from the municipality of Frontignan will be mobilized for this exercise. Researchers from Paul-Valéry University, in Montpellier, and the University of Avignon (Vaucluse) will also be present, in order to study the reactions of the population.