Do not panic ! Friday January 19, 2024, the inhabitants of Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Hérault, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, Alpes-Maritimes Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud had a unique experience. Between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., they received a tsunami alert on their phone via the FR-Alert system. The latter came in the form of a sound signal, even in silent mode. Everyone can rest assured, this is a test intended to massively warn populations of imminent danger, as reported The Parisienot. A test that could be valuable for the future. Indeed, the UN estimates that there is a 100% probability that a violent tsunami will hit the Mediterranean coasts within 30 years, i.e. before 2060. This area of southern France, bringing together 9 departments, is crossed by a fault between two tectonic plates (Arabian and Eurasian), as recalled Numerama. In the case of a catastrophic hypothesis, if they were to wake up, the volcanoes present in the area could trigger a tidal wave.
A warning to be taken seriously
The start and end of the test operation will be published on the prefectures’ social networks. The aim of this test is obviously to prepare populations to recognize a warning signal, but also adopt the right actions. In such circumstances, it is important to remember not to take the car, leave your children at school, go far from the shore, or even reach a high point on foot. In the event of an alert, the population must remain attentive to official instructions until the end of the alert. To prepare for this, several towns on the Riviera have been mobilized for several years to face the risk of a tsunami, like the town of Cannes. The latter will also receive the Tsunami Ready distinction, awarded by UNESCO to recognize all of its commitment. For its part, since 2010, the municipality of Nice has been classified as a level 4 seismic zone, a level establishing a so-called medium earthquake risk.