World Tsunami Awareness Day 2025 – History, Theme, Quotes, List of Tsunamis in India

World Tsunami Awareness Day is celebrated on the 5th of November every year to promote national and local risk reduction plans. According to the UN, by 2030, an estimated 50 per cent of the world’s population will have to live in coastal areas exposed to flooding, storms, and tsunamis. Tsunamis are rare natural events but can be extremely deadly. Therefore proper plans and policies will help to reduce the tsunami impact and help to build more resilience and protect populations at risk.

World Tsunami Awareness Day 2025 Date –  November 5

In this article readers can get a glimpse on

• History and Celebration of World Tsunami Awareness Day
• World Tsunami Awareness Day Theme 2025
• World Tsunami Awareness Day Quiz

Meaning of the word ‘Tsunami’

The term ‘Tsunami’ is a Japanese term that means “harbour wave”. A tsunami is a series of giant waves which is caused by earthquakes or undersea volcanic eruptions and underwater landslides. Tsunamis are the single most deadly of all sudden-onset natural hazards. Millions of people live and work in tsunami-exposed communities across the whole global ocean.

More about Tsunamis and How Deadly They can be

Tsunami waves can travel at the speed of 800 km/hour and their height can be 20 feet to 300 feet. The speed of tsunami waves hugely depends on the depth of the ocean. The speed of tsunami is fast in deep water while slow down when reaching shallow waters. Worth mentioning that around 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Tsunamis can travel 20-30 miles per hour with waves 10-100 feet high. It causes flooding and disrupts transportation, power, communications, and the water supply. They can take place anywhere along U.S. coasts, mostly coasts that border the Pacific Ocean or Caribbean have the greatest risk.

History of World Tsunami Awareness Day

After the 2004 deadliest Tsunami in the Indian Ocean; The United Nations General Assembly designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day from December 2015. The basic motive of this day is to increase the awareness about Tsunami among over 700 million people living in low-lying coastal areas and Small Islands.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO raise global awareness about effective actions for mitigating damage, coordinate with national and regional tsunami early warning services, make policies and practices to reduce destruction through its Tsunami Warning System for the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Connected Sea regions, Caribbean, and North-Eastern Atlantic ocean.

In addition to the above efforts, the IOC also educated Member countries about the regular tsunami communication and evacuation exercises, increase readiness for and understanding of tsunamis among citizens and communities around the world.

World Tsunami Awareness Day Theme 2025

Theme: Be Tsunami Ready: Invest in Tsunami Preparedness

This theme, observed on November 5th, is a direct call to action focusing on the essential role of financial and political commitment in building resilience against tsunamis.

Key Objectives and Messages

• Promoting the Tsunami Ready Programme: The campaign spotlights this UNESCO-IOC-led initiative, a voluntary, performance-based program that recognizes communities that have taken tangible steps to prepare for tsunamis.
• Emphasizing Economic Wisdom: It argues that tsunami preparedness is a sound economic strategy and a public good. Studies show a return on investment in early warning systems ranging from 4 to 36 times the initial cost.
• Strengthening Early Warning Systems: The day advocates for increased investment in advanced detection networks, resilient infrastructure, and regional coherence to ensure timely and trusted tsunami alerts across borders.
• Sustaining Risk Education: It stresses the need for continuous risk communication and public awareness to maintain “tsunami risk memory.” Since tsunamis are rare events, sustained education, like regular evacuation drills, is vital to ensure quick and correct action.
• Alignment with Global Goals: The theme is tied to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, aiming to reduce disaster losses and protect lives, livelihoods, and economies from devastating tsunami impacts.
• Empowering Local Communities: The campaign encourages local leaders, educators, and citizens to become champions for tsunami preparedness and to participate in community drills, such as the #GetToHighGround movement.

World Tsunami Awareness Day Previous Themes

World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed annually on November 5th. The themes often align with the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) and focus on preparedness and early warning.

Here are the themes and their focus points from 2015 to 2025:

• 2025: “Be Tsunami Ready: Invest in Tsunami Preparedness”
  • This theme calls for proactive investment in Tsunami Ready programmes, early warning systems, risk education, and infrastructure resilience, shifting focus from reactive response to preparedness.
• 2024: “Empowering the next generation with the lessons of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami – 20 years on”
  • The focus was on educating children and youth on tsunami risks and life-saving preparedness, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 2004 disaster.
• 2023: “Fighting inequality for a resilient future”
  • This theme highlighted the reciprocal relationship between disasters and inequality, emphasizing that unequal access to resources and services increases vulnerability.
• 2022: “Early Warning and Early Action Before Every Tsunami”
  • The day focused on Target G of the Sendai Framework, which aims to substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems by 2030.
• 2021: “Leveraging the Power of Science and Technology to Reduce Tsunami Risk for Current and Future Generations”
  • This theme promoted international cooperation and the use of science and technology to strengthen detection and early warning systems, including the Tsunami Ready Programme.
• 2020: Sendai Seven Campaign Target (e)
  • The focus encouraged countries to invest in building national and local disaster risk reduction strategies to manage and reduce existing risks.
• 2019: Sendai Seven Campaign Target (d)
  • This focused on substantially reducing disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services.
• 2018: Sendai Seven Campaign Target (c)
  • The goal was to reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• 2017: Sendai Seven Campaign Target (b)
  • The theme focused on the need to reduce the number of people affected globally by disasters.
• 2016: “Effective Education and Evacuation Drills”
  • The theme emphasized the importance of community-based education and regular evacuation drills to ensure people know how to respond when a tsunami strikes.
• 2015: “The Fire of Rice Sheaves”
  • As the inaugural year, the theme centered on the Japanese folktale that inspired the creation of the day, symbolizing quick, community-driven action to save lives from an incoming tsunami.

How will World Tsunami Awareness Day be Celebrated?

The Tsunami Programme will contribute to the Safe Ocean outcome of the Ocean Decade by making 100% of at-risk communities Tsunami Ready by 2030. Scaling up the Tsunami Ready programme is a testament to what focused, effective international cooperation can deliver, and will make a significant contribution to reducing risk and saving lives. Only together can science, governments and communities achieve this ambition.

You can join events around the world to celebrate World Tsunami Awareness Day on the 5th of November.

How to Stay Safe when Tsunami Threatens?

• If you live near, or regularly visit a coastal area, learn about the risk of tsunami in the area. Some at-risk communities have maps with evacuation zones and routes.
• Learn the signs of a potential tsunami, such as an earthquake, a loud roar from the ocean, or unusual ocean behaviour, such as a sudden rise or wall of water or sudden draining of water showing the ocean floor.
• Know and practice community evacuation plans and map out your routes from home, work, and play. Pick shelters 100 feet or more above sea level, or at least one mile inland.
• Create a family emergency communication plan that has an out-of-state contact. Plan where to meet if you get separated.

World Tsunami Awareness Day Quotes 2025

Following are some lines on world tsunami awareness day:

Tsunamis are always big news around Hilo, grew up always getting ready to escape a tsunami. – B. J. Penn

Everybody has an idea of the tsunami of being a big wave. It is not a big wave. It is a huge amount of water that comes to land. – Juan Antonio Bayona

Whenever an earthquake or tsunami takes thousands of innocent lives, a shocked world talks of little else. I’ll never forget the wrenching days I spent in Haiti last year for Save the Children just weeks after the earthquake. – Anne M. Mulcahy

In some countries, we have had the right to vote for less than 100 years, so the entry of women into political leadership has caused a tsunami. – Iveta Radicova

We imagine ‘the end’ as a world-devastating event, but every time there’s a terrible earthquake, a tsunami, an outbreak of disease – that’s apocalyptic, on a micro-scale. – Marjorie Liu

List of Largest Tsunamis in India Since 1762

World Tsunami Awareness Day Quiz 2025

1. What natural event primarily causes a tsunami?

A) Earthquake
B) Tornado
C) Cyclone