Representatives from seven Pacific countries and territories have met in Honiara for a five-day set of talks on improving monitoring and early warnings for earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides, according to the Delegation of the European Union to the Pacific.
About 40 participants gathered from 10 to 14 August for a combined programme bringing together the annual meeting of the Oceania Regional Seismic Network (ORSNET), a Pacific tsunami warning working group for island countries and territories, and a regional geohazards meeting, the European External Action Service (EEAS) announced on Wednesday.
ORSNET is a shared network of more than 50 seismic stations — instruments that detect and record ground shaking — owned and operated by Pacific Island countries and territories, supporting earthquake monitoring and tsunami early warning.
The meetings were hosted by the Government of Solomon Islands and supported by the Pacific Community (SPC) with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the US Geological Survey.
Participants from ORSNET member countries Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu were due to review national monitoring capacity, identify technical and institutional gaps and work towards endorsing a regional roadmap for 2026–2030.
Funding and data-sharing on the agenda
Discussions included how to mobilise resources for ORSNET to be self-funded, particularly to maintain the seismic network, as well as improving how different systems work together and expanding peer learning between agencies, the EEAS said.
The meetings were also expected to produce recommendations for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System and consider alignment with the UN’s “Early Warnings for All” initiative.
Solomon Islands Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification Derrick Rawcliff Manu’ari told the meeting that ORSNET had become a key regional mechanism for sharing seismic data and cooperation in the south-west Pacific.
EU support for SPC’s work was delivered through the EU-funded Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Phase II project.
The chair of ORSNET, Rennie Vaiomounga of Tonga’s Ministry of Lands, Survey, Planning and Natural Resources, said information recorded by a station in one country could help protect communities in another.
Vaiomounga cited communications disruptions after the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami, and after the 2024 Vanuatu earthquake, as examples where outages affected information flow during the initial response.
The meetings were set to conclude on 14 August with an expected endorsement of priority actions and governance arrangements for ORSNET, alongside a set of recommendations for the region’s wider geohazards strategy.
