The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) initiated a series of tests in 20 countries, Romania included, on their ability to react in case of a tsunami. The tests will last three years and will be carried out by UNESCO specialists in countries with coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, according to Daily Telegraph, reports local Mediafax.

The 20 countries that will participate in the tests are Romania, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK. Other 19 countries will be tested in the future.

In 1901, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 degrees in the Black Sea generated a 5-meter high tsunami that devastated the coastal areas of Romania and Bulgaria. Romania has not been subject to any tsunami-like waves in recent years, however.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com