Quake-prone nations hold tsunami drills

Quake-prone countries around the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday began a joint exercise testing their ability to deliver timely warnings of approaching tsunamis to tens of millions of people living along the coast.

The annual Pacific Wave exercise is taking place in a region where nearly eight in 10 of the world's tsunamis - giant waves usually caused by underwater earthquakes - occur, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said.

Though no actual evacuations will be conducted during the three days of drills, civil defense offices will rehearse the relaying of tsunami warnings for large quakes off the coasts of Chile and Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.