• Delhi
• Tibetan Community in Dharamsala
• Pakistan
• Tsunami

• Kathmandu (NSET)

• Central Asia
• Central Asia and Caucasus Region
• GESI
• Gujarat
• Quito Retrofit Schools
• Quito Risk Management
• RADIUS

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three |
Chapter Four | Chapter Five |
Chapter Six | Chapter Seven |

Chapter One: Learn the Basics of Tsunami Behavior

General Information

Tsunami Teacher

• This web resource covers many topics about tsunamis, including basics of tsunami risk.

The Tsunami Glossary

• This website contains general information about tsunami risk and links to many other sources of information.

Tsunami: The Great Waves

• This web page (also published as a flier) describes what tsunamis are, how they behave, and ways to prepare.

Videos, Animations and Photographs of Tsunamis

University of Southern California Tsunami Research Center

• This website includes videos and computer simulations of past tsunamis.

Tsunami Visualizations

• This website links to various animations and photographs of past tsunamis.

Videos of 2004 Tsunami

• This website collects amateur videos taken of the 2004 tsunami

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

List of Links to Information about 2004 Tsunami

• NOAA has collected an extensive list of links to field surveys, simulations, photographs, technical studies and other information about the December 26, 2004 Indonesian Sumatra earthquake and tsunami.

Personal Stories from Tsunamis

Surviving a Tsunami-Lessons from Chile, Hawaii, and Japan

• This booklet, based on personal stories from the 1960 tsunami generated off of the coast of Chile, discusses how to survive a tsunami.

Survivor Stories

• The Pacific Tsunami Museum has collected a variety of personal stories about surviving tsunamis.

Chapter Two: Build a Team

Guidance for Disaster Preparedness Advocates

Promoting Seismic Safety:Guidance for Advocates

• This guidebook aimed at encouraging earthquake safety advocates contains advice that is also relevant for advocates for tsunami safety.

Local Planning Guidance on Tsunami Response

• This document, written for local government officials in California, describes how to use inundation maps, plan for evacuations, and discusses emergency planning issues for tsunamis.

Community Tsunami Preparedness Groups

Tsunami Alert Community (KOGAMI)

• A group in Padang, Indonesia that organizes tsunami preparedness activities for their community.

Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group

• A group of community members and local, state and federal agencies that work together on tsunami preparedness in three counties of northern California, USA.

Chapter Three: Make Hazard and Evacuation Maps

Tsunami Inundation Modeling

NOAA Center for Tsunami Research

• This webpage gives an overview of tsunami modeling and research and includes examples of output and links to technical publications.

Topography Data Resources

Global Topography Database

• Topography data in digital raster format is available free for most parts of the world in 90 meter resolution (SRTM 3-arc second). This can serve as a basis for mapping, but will not be accurate for detailed local maps.

Examples of evacuation maps from world communities

Valparaiso, Chile Hazard Map

Northern California, USA Hazard Maps

Hawaii, USA Evacuation Maps

Washington State, USA Evacuation Maps

Kodiak, Alaska, USA Hazard Maps

Chapter Four: Educate the Community About Tsunami Preparedness

Overview of Educating People about Disasters

Public Hazards Communication and Education: The State of the Art

• This paper presents how to educate people about hazards.

Education Materials and Preparedness Information for Schools

Links to School Curriculums about Tsunami

• The International Tsunami Information Center has collected links to school curriculums and teacher guides about tsunamis for children of all ages, in English and Spanish languages.

Emergency Planning Guidelines for Schools and Early Childhood Centers

• This web page, from Auckland, New Zealand, describes how to create a comprehensive emergency plan for schools.

How the Smart Family Survived a Tsunami

• This booklet, aimed at children age 5 to 12, teaches children how their family can prepare for a tsunami.

Education Materials for Other Specific Audiences

Tsunami Safety for Boaters

• The ITIC has prepared a pamphlet with safety tips for boaters and the fishing industry.

  Emergency Planning for Health Clinics

• This guidebook from California Office of Emergency Services describes general emergency planning procedures for health facilities.

Neighborhood Preparedness Teams

Community Emergency Response Teams

• This web page has resources for starting a community emergency response team, based on US experiences.

Tsunami Signs

Example Tsunami Signs from Around the World

• The Pacific Tsunami Museum website shows what tsunami signs from around the world look like.

Oregon Tsunami Sign Placement Guidelines

• This document presents tsunami signs used in Oregon and describes where each type of sign should be used.

Folktales About Tsunamis

Inamura No Hi

• The Asian Disaster Reduction Centre has translated the Japanese folktale about surviving a tsunami into Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Bahasa, Nepalese and Tagalog. It is available in versions for adults and children.

Chapter Five: Learn About and Improve Official Tsunami Warning Systems

Overview of Official Warning Systems

Tsunami Teacher

• This web resource covers many topics about tsunamis, including describing the international tsunami warning system and discussing needs for newly established warning systems.

An Introduction to Public Alert and Warning

• This document provides a brief overview of what makes warning systems effective, including warning system, warning messages, and alerts.

ITSU Training Program on the International Warning System

• A training program is held annually in Hawaii, USA on the history and operations of Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.

International Warning Centers

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

• The PTWC is responsible for providing tsunami warnings and information about tsunamis to Hawaii and countries of Latin America and Asia bordering the Pacific and, on an interim basis, to the Caribbean and countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

• This center provides tsunami warnings and information to the coastlines of the US (excluding Hawaii), Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Japan Meteorological Agency

• This center provides tsunami warnings to Japan and provides supplementary information about events in the Northwest Pacific, in close coordination with the PTWC.

Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System

• This IOC web page tracks the progress of developing a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean.

Alert Signals

Tsunami Warning Systems and Procedures: Guidance for Local Officials

• This guide, developed by the state of Oregon, discusses a variety of notification systems and how they are used in different parts of the world.

A Toolkit for Community Planning

• This guidebook, developed for British Columbia, Canada, describes alternatives for mass notification of emergencies.

Chapter Six: Prevent Tsunami Damage

Mitigation for Tsunamis

Designing for Tsunamis: Seven Principles for Planning and Designing for Tsunami Hazards

• This guidebook describes how to build communities that are resilient to tsunamis.

Building Codes

At Risk: The Seismic Performance of Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings with Masonry Infill Walls

• This resource describes the risk of one of the world’s most common and deadly type of high rise buildings to earthquake shaking. It describes how to design and build RC frame buildings properly, and how to retrofit existing structures.

Chapter Seven: Keep Preparedness Going Long-Term

Promoting Seismic Safety: Guidance for Advocates

• This guidebook aimed at encouraging earthquake safety advocates contains advice about how to keep disaster preparedness activities ongoing.

Note: This section is still under development. Please let us know about errors or additional reference we should include.