Be Tsunami Ready: Invest in Tsunami Preparedness
World Tsunami Awareness Day 2025 shines a spotlight on building resilient communities through the —a global effort to turn awareness into action. This year’s campaign champions proactive preparedness, uniting governments, scientists, local leaders, and the public to reduce tsunami risks together.
Aligned with the themes of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and the – “Financing Our Future”, the campaign calls for smart investments in resilience and shared responsibility for safer shores.
In 2022, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) launched the campaign to promote awareness about reducing the risk of tsunamis. The campaign encourages citizens to participate in drills, runs, or walks along tsunami evacuation routes, which helps communities prepare for natural disasters and build their resilience. These events are inclusive and engaging, and they involve all people in raising awareness about reducing tsunami risk.
Tsunamis can be deadly, but they needn’t be. Early warning and early action are effective tools to protect people, saving lives, and preventing the hazard from becoming a disaster. To be effective, tsunami early-warning systems must cover every at-risk person, they must be multi-hazard, and communities must be prepared so they can act quickly.
Background
In December 2015, the UN General Assembly 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day, calling on countries, international bodies and civil society to raise tsunami awareness and share innovative approaches to risk reduction.
World Tsunami Awareness Day was the brainchild of Japan, which due to its repeated, bitter experience has over the years built up major expertise in areas such as tsunami early warning, public action and building back better after a disaster to reduce future impacts. (UNDRR) facilitates the observance of World Tsunami Awareness Day in collaboration with the rest of the United Nations system.
Tsunamis are rare events but can be extremely deadly. In the past 100 years, 58 of them have claimed more than 260,000 lives, or an average of 4,600 per disaster, surpassing any other natural hazard. The highest number of deaths in that period was in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004.
Just three weeks after that the international community came together in Kobe, in Japan’s Hyogo region. Governments adopted the 10-year , the first comprehensive global agreement on disaster risk reduction.
They also created the , which boasts scores of seismographic and sea-level monitoring stations and disseminates alerts to national tsunami information centres.
Rapid urbanization and growing tourism in tsunami-prone regions are putting ever-more people in harm’s way. That makes the reduction of risk a key factor if the world is to achieve substantial reductions in disaster mortality – a primary goal of the , the 15-year international agreement adopted in March 2015 to succeed the Hyogo Framework.
What are tsunamis?
The word "tsunami" comprises the Japanese words "tsu" (meaning harbour) and "nami" (meaning wave). A tsunami is a series of enormous waves created by an underwater disturbance usually associated with earthquakes occurring below or near the ocean.
Volcanic eruptions, submarine landslides, and coastal rock falls can also generate a tsunami, as can a large asteroid impacting the ocean. They originate from a vertical movement of the sea floor with the consequent displacement of water mass.
Tsunami waves often look like walls of water and can attack the shoreline and be dangerous for hours, with waves coming every 5 to 60 minutes.
The first wave may not be the largest, and often it is the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even later waves that are the biggest. After one wave inundates, or floods inland, it recedes seaward often as far as a person can see, so the seafloor is exposed. The next wave then rushes ashore within minutes and carries with it many floating debris that were destroyed by previous waves.
What are the causes of tsunamis?
Earthquakes
It can be generated by movements along fault zones associated with plate boundaries.
Most strong earthquakes occur in subduction zones where an ocean plate slides under a continental plate or another younger ocean plate.
All earthquakes do not cause tsunamis. There are four conditions necessary for an earthquake to cause a tsunami:
- The earthquake must occur beneath the ocean or cause material to slide into the ocean.
- The earthquake must be strong, at least magnitude6.5 on the Richter Scale
- The earthquake must rupture the Earth’s surface and it must occur at shallow depth – less than 70km below the surface of the Earth.
- The earthquake must cause vertical movement of the sea floor (up to several metres).
Landslides
A landslide which occurs along the coast can force large amounts of water into the sea, disturbing the water and generate a tsunami. Underwater landslides can also result in tsunamis when the material loosened by the landslide moves violently, pushing the water in front of it.
Volcanic eruptions
Although relatively infrequent, violent volcanic eruptions also represent impulsive disturbances, which can displace a great volume of water and generate extremely destructive tsunami waves in the immediate source area.
One of the largest and most destructive tsunamis ever recorded was generated in August 26, 1883 after the explosion and collapse of the volcano of Krakatoa (Krakatau), in Indonesia. This explosion generated waves that reached 135 feet, destroyed coastal towns and villages along the Sunda Strait in both the islands of Java and Sumatra, killing 36,417 people.
Extraterrestrial collisions
Tsunamis caused by extraterrestrial collision (i.e. asteroids, meteors) are an extremely rare occurrence. Although no meteor/asteroid-induced tsunamis have been recorded in recent history, scientists realize that if these celestial bodies should strike the ocean, a large volume of water would undoubtedly be displaced to cause a tsunami.
Social media
Help spread the message with visuals from the .
#TsunamiDay #GetToHighGround
Key Messages
- Investments in tsunami early warning, evacuation mapping, risk education, and regular drills reduce mortality, limit disruption, and protect development gains along coasts.
- Interoperable, cross-border systems and shared protocols create timely, trusted tsunami alerts and a common operating picture across entire coastlines.
- Financing aligned with coastal risk, together with proven and emerging tsunami technologies, underpins durable coastal economies.
- Because tsunamis are low-frequency, high-impact hazards, sustained public awareness maintains tsunami risk memory, keeps evacuation routes and roles familiar, and supports whole-of-society resilience.
Celebrate World Tsunami Awareness Day
To commemorate World Tsunami Awareness Day, individuals and organizations are encouraged to participate in events, promote awareness, or engage in conversations about investing in tsunami preparedness.
A variety of global activities will be held, and organizers are invited to share their plans so they can be amplified and celebrated. Everyone is welcome to learn more about hosting their own event to raise awareness and promote safety measures in tsunami-prone areas.
Play and learn to stop disasters
This online game teaches children how to build safer villages and cities against disasters. Children learn through playing how the location and the construction materials of houses make a difference when disasters strike and how early warning systems, evacuation plans and education save lives.
Resources
Related Websites
- UNDRR:
- UNESCO:
Documents
- General Assembly:
