The focus of the second phase is on broadening the number of communication channels, according to a government press release issued Monday.

“With hazard management, there is always more that can be done. By expanding the NENS and streamlining communications in Phase II, we free up first responders to focus on tackling the disaster and protecting the public,” Hazard Management Cayman Islands Director Danielle Coleman said in the release.

The second phase involves a new mobile-alert application which, once complete, will be available for a free download.

“In addition, the new system will also enable simultaneous warning messages to be delivered via SMS, emails and social media, greatly reducing the time taken to disseminate critical messages to the public,” Hazard Management said in the press release.

This phase is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2020.
The first phase included the ability to interrupt radio broadcasts with warning messages. It became fully operational in March 2018.

Lack of earthquake alert queried

Hazard Management’s emergency warning systems came into focus last week after members of the public questioned why no alerts were issued when a magnitude 5 earthquake struck 47 miles off East End. A notification was posted to HMCI’s Facebook page hours later and under it, several members of the public questioned the delay in posting the information.

Hazard Management’s Deputy Director Simon Boxall, responding to Cayman Compass queries on the process for alerts, said the earthquake did not pose a threat nor did it meet Hazard Management’s threshold to trigger the NENS.

“Given the proximity and magnitude – this event was neither a public safety threat or a major incident, so the duty officer was not alerted in the early hours of Monday morning. Bear in mind the vast majority of residents did not even feel it,” Boxall said.

Hazard Management had received only one ‘felt’ report, but by mid-morning Monday, 9 Dec., the US Geological Survey website had received more than 80 reports. Dozens of residents posted on social media platforms saying they felt the earthquake.

The earthquake occurred at 1:12am. Hazard Management published information on its social media pages around 6:30am and on its website shortly after 7am; “… which is reasonable considering that the tremor was effectively a non-event from a public safety perspective,” Boxall said.

The threshold to issue an immediate public notification, he said, is at least three felt reports to 911 or Hazard Management, as well as a report of damage to a structure, or an earthquake measuring 6 or above on the Richter scale in the Cayman region.

Felt reports issued with the US Geological Survey are not taken into consideration by Hazard Management, and, therefore, the 80 reports relating to the earthquake would not have triggered an emergency notification by Hazard Management.

A magnitude 6 earthquake is 10 times the strength of the magnitude 5 tremor felt in Cayman on 9 Dec.

Boxall explained that Hazard Management does not operate 24 hours per day, but there are processes in place to ensure the duty officer is contacted for major incidents to ensure activation of the emergency-alert mechanism outside working hours.

He added that 911 is the after-hours focal point and it makes contact with Hazard Management for major incidents.

Boxall said Hazard Management has been using the recent seismic event to increase awareness of the reporting process.

“We remain confident that a large earthquake in close proximity that presents an actual threat to public safety would trigger the response process and mechanism outside normal office hours,” he added.

In the case of last week’s earthquake, Boxall said, Cayman is close to a plate boundary line, where seismic activity happens, and most events in our region pose no threat.

“At the present time, we are confident that the existing mechanism works and would trigger the alert process for an event that actually poses a genuine public-safety threat, which is our first priority,” Boxall said. “Local residents and property were not threatened in this instance – and we are not going to trigger the national mechanism for things that do not pose a threat to the public, in order to avoid desensitising the public to emergency notifications.”

He said government needs the public to take action and respond appropriately to real threats, and if Hazard Management constantly focusses the public’s attention on situations that are not credible threats, people will stop listening.