World Tsunami Day: Awareness and information sharing can reduce damage, save lives
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNODRR) has designated November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day..
According to UNODRR, tsunamis are rare but they can be extremely deadly. However, a stark impact is not inevitable.
The organisation believes that early warning systems can save lives. Equally important is community and individual understanding about how and where to evacuate before a wave strikes.
Tsunamis know no borders, making international cooperation key for deeper political and public awareness of risk reduction measures.
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Robert Glasser, warned against complacency in the face of the global tsunami threat which is often forgotten in parts of the world that have been affected in the distant past.
Speaking in New Delhi at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Robert Glasser said, “Two reports published today including a detailed examination by Tohoku University of 400 years of data show that damaging tsunami events can happen in most regions of the world. Europe and the Americas are vulnerable as well as the countries surrounding the Indian and Pacific Oceans which have suffered considerably over the last 20 years.”
Over the past 100 years, at least 58 tsunamis have killed more than 260,000 people worldwide, according to media reports.
Image: PIB
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