World Tsunami Awareness Day 2024: History, Theme, How to celebrate, etc.

“Stop the harm you do to nature; tsunami is nature’s way to avenge.” This slogan means that pollutive behaviours such as deforestation, pollution, and using natural resources disrupt normative nature. In response, the slogan metaphorically suggests that catastrophes such as tsunamis a nature’s revenge.

World Tsunami Awareness Day is celebrated every year on 5^th November to make people aware of the disaster “Tsunami” and ways through which we can reduce the tsunami risk.

Historically the concept of tsunamis was poorly understood but the UN Global Assembly decided in December 2015 that the 5th of November would be celebrated as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

What are Tsunamis?

A tsunami is a sequence of big sea waves which are formed mostly by underwater earthquakes, volcanic earthquakes, landslides and movements of tectonic plates. These waves can run at fast speeds in deep waters of the ocean, and in most of these, the height of these waves is very hard to predict at a glance and can be deceiving. These heights can go up to several meters high. But when they reach the shallow coastal zones, they grow even faster and this leads to a wave of water which may cause lots of destruction along the coast. Tsunamis are a destructive phenomenon, fast waves that hit the coastlines at a force such great that they destroy everything in their path, claiming many lives and destroying property on areas that have no early warnings or precautions.

Also Read: Role of NGOs in Water and Sanitation

What are the causes of tsunamis?

Nearly all the tsunamis are caused by large disturbances capable of setting huge quantities of water in oceans or seas in motion. The main causes include:

• Underwater Earthquakes: The major cause of a tsunami, responsible for the majority of all the areas affected, is an underwater earthquake. When tectonic plates move and let off energy, an up or down rise of the sea bed can occur, moving large amounts of water in the process to create tsunamis.
• Volcanic Eruptions: Volcanic eruptions, especially those that take a volcanic explosive, or those that occur at the seabed or near coastlines, cause a displacement of water causing it to raise waves. Underwater explosions through the eruption of a volcano or the destruction of some structures may result to the formation of waves that tend to expand in size.
• Landslides: Water is displaced by underwater or coastal landslides or by other causes which create tsunamis. This can occur mostly whenever large rocks or any debris falls over the sea this leads to a displacement of water results to waves.
• Glacial Calving: Sudden detachment of big pieces of ice from the bay terminus of glaciers or ice shelves into the sea has the capability to displace water and cause tsunamis, but these are of limited regional extent.

All of these events cause the displacement of water to occur at a very high speed sending waves across the ocean that tend to become even more dangerous as they are near the shallow shores of a coastline.

Recalling The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

One of the most devastating incidents in the history of natural disasters, The Indonesian catastrophe of December 26th, 2004 was the worst disaster to happen in the country in the morning. The severe Magnitude of 9·1 off shore earthquake struck Sumatra and generated an overwhelming tsunami wiping out nearly 800 km of coastline of Aceh province including areas that were flooded up around 6 km inland. Disaster loss and damage estimation around equally devastating where an estimated of 220000 human lives were lost, 139,000 houses destroyed, 73,869 ha of agricultural fields, 2,618 km of roads and highways, 3,415 schools, 10,450 – small to medium enterprises, 13,828 fishing boats, 119 bridges, 669 government structures, 517 health facilities, 1,089 places of worships These figures are accompanied by more than half a million survivors who were displaced internally; as well as the hundreds of thousands of others who lost their sources of incomes.

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Information on the tsunami tragedy in Aceh propagated within hours around this small globe initiating a record-breaking extensive colossal community response for international disaster management. Due to the extremely urgent situation in the area, the Government of Indonesia has allowed international military personnel originating from Asian and European countries, the USA, Australia and others to join the disaster response operations where more than 600 local and international non-governmental, community-based, civil society, multi-lateral and United Nations organizations. Of these organizations, some had carried over into the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase that followed the disaster. This concluded that the reconstruction costs were estimated to be US $ 4.9 billion while funds committed from various sources such as international community donors, and the government of Indonesia were US$ 6.7 billion (BRR, 2009).

What is the Theme of World Tsunami Awareness Day 2024?

This year’s World Tsunami Awareness Day 2024 theme is “Early Warning and Early Action Before Every Tsunami.” The theme of this year focuses on the importance of having early warning systems that are effective and taking quick action to save lives and reduce the impact of tsunamis.

Why do we need World Tsunami Awareness Day?

This day is celebrated to make sure that people globally understand the impacts of tsunamis, and the need to act on ways that will help prevent these calamities. We need this day for several important reasons:

• Education and Preparedness: To teach them about the tsunami danger, or how to react in case when its occurs. Tuvalu reminds all of the world about the important information on how to recognize when a tsunami is coming, what steps to take, and where to go to increase the chances of survival.
• Commemoration and Solidarity: This day reminds people about tsunamis of the past that took many lives and destroyed much property, for example the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Recalling them leads to solidarity of the victims and affected groups of people.
• Advancing Global Cooperation: Tsunamis are frequently affecting several countries and vast geographic areas at once. World Tsunami Day calls for collaborative actions in sharing information, technology and other inputs in the development of proper warning mechanisms and united concerted actions.

Also Read: NGOs in Disaster Risk Reduction

• Promoting Risk Reduction Strategies: The day fits into the scope of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the kind that can be aligned with other frameworks including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It underlines the need for developing hearty structures and making populations ready to reduce the risk of natural disasters.
• Highlighting the Importance of Environmental Protection: Mangrove forests and coral atolls are examples of developed coastlines that can help avoid tsunamis. While celebrating World Tsunami Day it is important to understand that environmental conservation is one of the many ways of preventing natural disasters.

Collectively, this day contributes highly in improving the world’s awareness and unity in the prevention of future disasters in order to build new safer structures.

How do We Celebrate World Tsunami Awareness Day?

We can celebrate this day by making people aware of this day by organizing various events and campaigns such as:

• Educational Workshops and Seminars: These learning events take the form of workshops, lectures, and seminars in schools, universities, and other levels of the community to educate people regarding with the science of tsunamis and how to react during one.
• Drills and Evacuation Exercises: Tsunami exercises might be carried out on coastal regions to ensure that the people are aware of the quickest and safest means to the higher grounds.
• Community Awareness Campaigns: On this day, governments and NGOs create programs that provide informational materials, conduct public forums, and participate in social media feeds to address the largest number of the targeted population.
• School Activities: School children are usually provided with practical experiences through practising poster-making competition, writing competitions, and some games related with tsunami and importance of having  security measures on disasters.
• Conferences and Panel Discussions: High-risk countries might engage in agreements and treaties or professional organizations of both governmental and non-governmental institutions, international and regional organizations, academic institutions, research centres, and similar structures might hold large conferences or seminars based on presentations or discussions on the disaster management policies, warning systems and ideas for reducing the tsunamis.

Also Read: Role of NGOs in Conservation and Biodiversity Protection

• Commemorative Events: It’s possible to have memorial services in order to pay tribute to those who perished in tsunamis that occurred in the past, as well as to support the population, which becomes the tsunami victims. This event may comprise stand-downs or collective stand-stills and other events like candle lighting.
• Community Preparedness Training: Community focuses that are usually training sessions like first aid and emergency kit management can go along way in helping save lives.
• Media Coverage and Documentaries: Web-based TV channels, social media applications, programs, and radio stations, might have documentaries, special news, and stories that would target past Tsunami occurrences, the experiences of the survivors and the latest findings as well as developments in the field of study Tsunami and prediction.
• Collaborative Projects: It might present the ‘good’ working partnerships with the governments, NGOs in India, and PSs, where the emergence of infrastructure such as warning systems and quick evacuation routes are demonstrated.