World Tsunami Awareness Day

2025 - Key milestones under the Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme brought the global community closer to a safer future for coastal populations. When a tsunami strikes, every minute matters. While most tsunamis are triggered by earthquakes, some of the most dangerous events are caused by volcanoes, landslides, or atmospheric disturbances. These “non-seismic” tsunamis can develop rapidly and often evade traditional warning systems, leaving communities with little time to respond. To address this challenge, the Ocean Decade Tsunami Programme (ODTP) is working toward an ambitious goal: a fully operational all-sources tsunami early warning system (TEWS) by 2030. Throughout 2025, a series of coordinated global and regional initiatives led by the Tsunami Resilience Section of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO helped accelerate progress toward this objective. Beyond earthquakes: improving detection of non-seismic tsunamis One of the greatest challenges in tsunami ...

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 (e.g., detection networks , inundation modelling , resilient infrastructure ), 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 .

A performance-based community framework using tsunami-specific indicators such as accessible public information, routine education activities , and community tsunami drills signals that essential safeguards are in place.