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NOAA Mitigates the Impact of Killer Waves  

December 2017

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Below is a glimpse of how NOAA and our partners help communities prepare for and mitigate, detect, forecast, and respond to tsunamis:

NOAA leads the U.S. Tsunami Warning System

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System is a partnership of local to international governments joined by organizations and industry. It has the following components:

Tsunami Warning System minimizes human and economic loss  

Preparedness builds resilience and is economically sound


The NOAA-led National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program is a federal/state partnership that brings together expertise on many levels.

Partners include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and 28 states and territories.

The partners work to reduce tsunami impacts by modeling and mapping tsunami hazards, helping to shape effective warning products, and educating about tsunami preparedness.


NOAA’s voluntary TsunamiReady® program helps communities minimize risk through better hazard assessment, planning, education, and warning communications.

Implemented by National Weather Service forecast offices, TsunamiReady is an active collaboration among federal/state/territorial and local emergency management agencies, community leaders, and the public. 

The TsunamiReady program establishes guidelines and helps communities meet them. Once they do, the National Weather Service recognizes these communities as being TsunamiReady.

There are currently 199 TsunamiReady communities. UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission is leveraging TsunamiReady with international pilot programs


 NOAA protects lives and property 24/7

 

Detecting Tsunamis 

Tsunami Warning Center messages are based on seismic and sea-level data from around the world


Forecasts and Warnings

When a tsunami is detected, data from the seismic and sea-level networks are fed into NOAA’s tsunami forecast models. These models are critical for refining tsunami messages and informing local decisions about evacuations and beach and road closures.

Tsunami forecast models depend, in part, on Digital Elevation Models built by NOAA Satellite and Information Service’s National Centers for Environmental Information for specific coastal zones.

Coastal Digital Elevation Models detail ocean depth and land features to model how tsunamis and other natural events may affect given coastal areas. 

Response and Recovery


NOAA's Global Reach

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“Nature’s danger signs are well understood in American Samoa. But we knew we needed to do more in training, exercise and raising public awareness. In 2009, NOAA and our partners, including the American Samoa Department of Homeland Security (ASDHS), reached out to educate the community about preparing for a local tsunami threat.

In the worst case, there would be only 10-15 minutes before the first wave attacked. People needed a response plan and to know how to self-evacuate. Schools located along the shoreline were especially vulnerable.

Luckily, ASDHS planned a tsunami evacuation exercise on September 27, 2009 for Matatula Elementary School in Tula village. 

On September 29, a radio communication exercise was planned for the main port of Pago Pago, and VHF radios were distributed. When the magnitude 8.1 earthquake and tsunami struck that same day, the radios became our lifeline.

With just 17 minutes between the earthquake and the arrival of the first observable tsunami waves on American Samoa, people in Tula were prepared and knew what to do, especially the school children. The whole community moved to higher ground and, although many people in the region died in the tsunami, everyone in Tula was safe.

The tsunami exercise was still fresh in their minds.”


Major NOAA Advances in Mitigating Tsunamis



NOAA continues to make advances in tsunami detection, forecasting and warning capabilities.

There is urgency to doing this because, however infrequent, tsunamis will strike again. Every coastal community is at risk.

As a result of recent investments in the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, U.S. and international coastal communities are better prepared to respond to and recover from a tsunami. Warning products are more timely and accurate, observation technologies are more robust, life-saving information is more accessible, and mitigation activities are considerably stronger and more widespread. 

Tsunamis can’t be prevented, but NOAA and our partners are helping coastal communities significantly reduce the risks.

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