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World Tsunami Awareness Day is celebrated on November 5 each year. While tsunamis are rare events, they can be extremely deadly. In the past 100 years, 58 tsunamis have resulted in over 260,000 fatalities, averaging approximately 4,600 deaths per disaster, which is higher than any other natural hazard. A significant number of these deaths occurred during the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, which caused an estimated 227,000 fatalities across 14 countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand being the hardest hit.
Just three weeks after this tragedy, the international community gathered in Kobe, in Japan’s Hyogo region. During this meeting, governments approved the 10-year Hyogo Framework for Action, the first comprehensive global agreement on disaster risk reduction. They also established the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, which includes numerous seismographic and sea-level monitoring stations and disseminates alerts to national tsunami information centers.
Rapid urbanization and increasing tourism in tsunami-prone regions are placing more people in harm’s way. Therefore, reducing this risk is crucial if the world is to achieve a significant decrease in disaster mortality, a primary goal of the Sendai Framework. This 15-year international convention was adopted in March 2015 to succeed the Hyogo Framework. In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
A lot of times we work across multiple platforms. We’ll go to Japan working on the tsunami for ‘Nightly News’ and it’ll end up on ‘Dateline.’ – Lester Holt
World Tsunami Awareness Day Observance
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | November 5 | Tuesday |
| 2025 | November 5 | Wednesday |
| 2026 | November 5 | Thursday |
| 2027 | November 5 | Friday |
| 2028 | November 5 | Sunday |
History of World Tsunami Awareness Day
World Tsunami Awareness Day was first observed on November 5, 2016. The event was organized by Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Champions at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016, which took place from November 3 to 5, 2016, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. This conference was a collaborative effort between the Government of India and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).
The significance of November 5 for tsunami awareness can be traced back to the year 1854. On this day, a village in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, was concerned about a tsunami approaching following a high-intensity earthquake. A local resident set fire to rice sheaves on top of a hill to signal an alert. Villagers who climbed the hill to extinguish the fire were saved, while the tsunami devastated their village below. This event is considered the original documented case of a tsunami early warning.
To commemorate the day known as “Inamura no Hi” (the burning of rice sheaves), a resolution was jointly proposed by 142 countries, including Japan, as a follow-up to the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations designated November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The observance of this day aims to raise awareness globally about the dangers of tsunamis and emphasizes the importance of early warning systems to mitigate damage from these often destructive natural hazards. It also seeks to revive traditional knowledge about tsunamis.
Awareness-raising activities are planned throughout the Conference, including thematic events, exhibitions, and the distribution of informational materials. Following the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, the Government of India established the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) under the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad. This Centre has been operational since October 2007 and features state-of-the-art infrastructure for generating and disseminating tsunami bulletins for the entire Indian Ocean region.
In addition, India, along with 23 other Indian Ocean countries, participated in a tsunami mock drill on September 7-8, 2016. This exercise aimed not only to increase awareness but also to evaluate the preparedness of participating nations to respond to tsunamis and similar emergency situations.
Other Celebrations on November 5
November 5 is also celebrated as
How To Celebrate World Tsunami Awareness Day
The observance of this day will help spread awareness globally about the dangers of tsunamis and emphasize the importance of early warning systems in mitigating the damage caused by this often devastating natural hazard,” the release stated. You can use the hashtag #WorldTsunamiAwarenessDay to raise awareness on social media.