5th World Tsunami Awareness

Day (5 November 2020)

5th November was designated as World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2015 through its Resolution A/RES/70/203. The resolution requested that the United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction, in collaboration with relevant organizations of the United Nations system, facilitate the observance of WTAD, starting in 2016.

The 2020 edition of the World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) was jointly organized by UNDRR and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, in collaboration with other UN and external partners (i.e. UNDP), notably with the sponsorship of the Government of Japan.

The WTAD 2020 was structured as a 30-day “campaign” with three main events focused on Global Target (e) of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030i: 

Three key activities:

1) 13 October 2020: online live screening of the 52’ documentary “Tsunamis: Facing a Global Threat” (ZED productions) by French film maker Pascal Guérin showcasing field research activities facilitated by IOC-UNESCO in the aftermath of the 2018 tsunami in Palu, Indonesia. The live streaming was followed by a panel discussion with the film maker and top experts.

2) In November, a series of webinars were organized by the regional IOC teams in charge of coordinating regional tsunami early warning systems, in cooperation with UNDRR regional offices:

3 November – Caribe EWS 

4 November – Indian Ocean;

4 November – North Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea;

4 November – Pacific Island Countries

10 November – Central and South America Pacific Ocean.

This series of webinars focused on the need to connect state-of-the-art scientific expertise with local community preparedness to ensure science-based tsunami local plans are in place including through IOC-UNESCO led Tsunami Ready recognition processes.

3) 5 November: A virtual high-level event during the Third Tsunami Museum Conference showcased how museums contribute to keeping the memory of past disasters and lessons learned alive. The event featured recorded testimonials of tsunami survivors.

Member states also organized events in the framework of the WTAD 2020:

FIJI

MEXICO

PHILIPPINES

THAILAND

USA

NIGERIA