A new tide gauge or mareograph was installed in Isla del Coco, Costa Rica with the purpose of alerting park rangers, researches, volunteers and tourists about changes in sea level and the formation of tsunamis.

“If we have information on how big is the tsunami on its arrival to the Island, then we can estimate how big it will be in Central and South America”, explained Silvia Chacon, oceanographer of the National University.

“The arrival of a Tsunami from the Island to our coasts would take up to one and a half hours; the mareograph provides information in real time”.

Real-time tsunami modeling is a powerful tool that provides tsunami amplitude estimations for warning purposes.

The interest on installing this device at Isla del Coco existed since the 90’s, however the lack of a proper structure where it could be installed and the high cost delayed the project. The total investment was of 12 million colones (approximately $21,300) according to the information provided by the National University.

Precisely, the Physics Department of this education center has a modern tsunami monitoring room since 2014, unique in Central America, and which is part of the National Tsunamis Monitoring System of Costa Rica (Sinamot).

Every time the Hawaii Pacific Tsunamis Warning Center sends the alarm on a tsunami threat, the oceanographers and engineers of Sinamot evaluate the danger for Costa Rica and provide a scientific report to the National Emergency Commission.

The coordination for the installation of the tide gauge was done by SINAMOT and the RONMAC Program (Sea Level Observation Network and Coastal Threats Research Program) which monitors the other tide gauges located in Quepos, Limon, Papagayo and Herradura.

“Since its creation, the Sinamot has processed 178 tsunami bulletins from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, 158 on the Pacific Coast and 20 on the Caribbean coast. None of these events presented a threat to Costa Rica, and only two additional tsunamis were registered on tide gauges since, the 2015 Chile tsunami and the 2017 Mexico tsunami” , explains Sinamot in the article “The 2017 Mexico Tsunami Record, Numerical Modeling and Threat Assessment in Costa Rica”.