World Tsunami Awareness Day

In the past 100 years, 58 tsnamis have claimed more than 260,000 lives, or an average of 4,600 per disaster. The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 lone caused an estimated 227,000 fatalities in 14 countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand hardest-hit.

“In December 2015, the UN General Assembly designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

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.

The date for the annual celebration was chosen in honour of the Japanese story of “Inamura-no-hi”, meaning the “burning of the rice sheaves”. During an 1854 earthquake a farmer saw the tide receding, a sign of a looming tsunami. He set fire to his entire harvest to warn villagers, who fled to high ground. Afterwards, he built an embankment and planted trees as a buffer against future waves.”

Tsunami Day, United Nations