UNITED NATIONS - A tsunami warning exercise involving 31 countries is taking place in the Caribbean.

Monitored by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), it is designed to evaluate the response capacity of Caribbean countries and neighbouring regions in the event of a dangerous tsunami.

The scenario is simulating an earthquake and tsunami modelled after an event that occurred in 1755 and which affected the coasts of Portugal, Spain, North Africa, and the Caribbean.

Over the last 500 years, 75 tsunamis or tidal waves have occurred in the Caribbean representing about 10% of the total that have taken place globally during that period.

Tidal waves have killed more than 3,500 people in the region since the mid-19th century.

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