What is Puerto Rico Tsunami Education?

Puerto Rico Tsunami Education is an educational portal developed for the Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) of the Department of Geology at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez.  This portal supports the PRSN mission of preparing and educating at-risk coastal communities in Puerto Rico to respond and prepare appropriately for a tsunami.  As part of the tsunami educational portal, you will find a series of free, open, and online courses focused on the essential knowledge and skills required to effectively prepare communities and the general public for a potential tsunami.  

 

If you missed the video introduction on the banner above, click this link to watch it: PR-TsunamiEdu Introductory Video. Below we have the key details mentioned in the video:

    • Puerto Rico is an island located in a seismically active zone and is exposed to tsunamis.
    • Although tsunamis are a rare and uncommon phenomenon, there is no way to predict them.
    • At least 86 tsunamis have impacted the Caribbean in the past 500 years.

 

Site Overview

This educational portal has a series of courses that you can access information on not only tsunamis, but on their preparedness. Each course covers a different topic essential for a tsunamis understanding and preparation. These courses have been broken into modules where you can find: instructional resources, and visuals that will enhance your tsunami learning experience, including some simple knowledge checks that will help to revise and deepen your newly learnt information. You have the options to navigate and choose your course of interest and dive into even more specific topics by choosing the module. At the end of each course, you have the option of completing a quiz to evaluate what you learned. 

 

The key to these courses is learning about Tsunamis, how to use the Evacuation Maps, and Map Tool developed by PRSN. On this website, you will always have access to these resources at the top navigation menu under the “Resources Tab”.  Additionally, PRSN has a webpage dedicated to the Puerto Rico Tsunami Program, which contains these tsunami maps and many more resources.  It is important to note that the information on this website can also be useful for residents from the Virgin Islands, since PRSN also monitors their areas seismic activity.

 

Follow our links to learn more about the Tsunami Ready programs; learn more about tsunamis preparedness and mitigation in Puerto Rico

Available Courses

When new courses become available, they will be listed here. Access the Courses page in the top navigation menu for more information about available and upcoming courses.

Tsunamis

Understanding what tsunamis are is the first step in developing emergency plans. This course focuses on introducing the concept of a tsunami, its characteristics and phases. Additionally, the tsunami alerts and Puerto Rico’s history on tsunamis. Learning what the alert levels are and what actions should be taken are an essential part for the best emergency plans development.

Course Home

Tsunami Maps

PRSN developed tsunami maps like the Evacuation Maps and Map Tool. This course intends to teach not only the Puerto Rican community, but also people from the Virgin Islands. It will teach you how to read and use these maps to create your own evacuation response plan.

Course Home

This website is under development! There is currently only two courses available.

To stay informed about updates, and follow PRSN on social media!! The links are available on the sitemap footer below. 

About PRSN

“The Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) is part of the Department of Geology of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. Our mission is to detect, process, and investigate the seismic activity in the region of Puerto Rico and to timely report the results for purposes of public security, education, engineering, and scientific research” (Puerto Rico Seismic Network, n.d., para. 1).

 

Please visit the official PRSN website to learn more.

 

Contact Information

If you encounter any problems or need assistance with this website, please contact the PRSN’s Education Program by email at educacion@prsnmail.uprm.edu or complete the following contact form and click “Send Message.”

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