How can I prepare for a tsunami?

It is easy to prepare for a tsunami. Many 

preparedness actions are common across hazards. 

If your home, school, workplace, or other places 

you visit often are in tsunami hazard zones: 

• Ensure you have multiple ways to receive 

warnings. Get a NOAA Weather Radio, sign 

up for text message alerts from your local 

government, and verify that your mobile 

devices receive wireless emergency alerts.

• Make an emergency plan that includes plans 

for family communication and evacuation.

• Map out routes from home, work, and other 

places you visit often to safe places on high 

ground or inland (away from the water) 

and outside the tsunami hazard zone. Your 

community may already have identified 

evacuation routes and assembly areas. Plan 

to evacuate on foot if you can; roads may be 

impassable due to damage, closures, or 

traffic jams.

• Practice walking your routes, even in darkness 

and bad weather. This will ease evacuation 

during an emergency. 

• Put together a portable disaster supplies kit 

with items you and your family (including pets) 

may need in an emergency. Prepare kits for 

work and cars, too.

• Be a role model. Share your knowledge and 

plans with others.

If you have children in school in a 

tsunami hazard zone, find out the 

school’s plans for evacuating and 

keeping children safe. 

If you are visiting the coast, find 

out about local tsunami safety. 

Your hotel or campground should 

have this information.

What should I do after a tsunami?

• Stay out of the tsunami hazard zone until 

officials say it is safe. The cancellation of a 

warning does not mean danger has passed.

• Stay out of any building with damage or water 

around it until a professional or official says it 

is safe.

• Get updates and safety instructions from radio, 

television, or your mobile device (text or data). 

Where can I learn more?

Tsunami safety: www.weather.gov/tsunamisafety

Tsunami alerts: www.tsunami.gov

Emergency planning: www.ready.gov

Information provided by the National Tsunami Hazard 

Mitigation Program (https://nws.weather.gov/nthmp/), 

a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

U.S. Geological Survey, and 28 U.S. states and territories. 

If you live, work, or play on the 

coast, learn more about tsunamis 

and tsunami safety.

Knowledge

 saves lives!

Tsunami

Awareness 

& Safety

National Tsunami 

Hazard Mitigation 

Program

FEMA
How will I be warned about a tsunami?

There are two types of tsunami warnings: official 

and natural. Both are important. You may not 

get both. Respond immediately to whichever you 

receive first.

Official tsunami warnings are broadcast through 

radio, television, and wireless emergency alerts. They 

may also come through outdoor sirens, officials, text 

message alerts, and telephone notifications.

There may not be time to wait for an official 

warning. A natural tsunami warning may be your 

only warning. Natural warnings include:

• A strong or long earthquake

• A loud roar (like a train or an airplane) from the 

ocean

• Unusual ocean behavior (the ocean could look 

like a fast-rising flood or a wall of water or it 

could drain away suddenly like a very low, low 

tide)

If you experience any of these natural warnings, 

even just one, a tsunami could be coming.

How do I respond to a tsunami warning?

If you are in a tsunami hazard zone and receive an 

official warning:

• Stay out of the water and away from beaches 

and waterways.

• Get more information from radio, television, or 

your mobile device (text or data). 

• If officials ask you to evacuate, move quickly to a 

safe place. Follow evacuation signs or go as high 

or far inland (away from the water) as possible.

If you are in a tsunami hazard zone and receive 

a natural warning, a tsunami could arrive within 

minutes:

• In case of an earthquake, protect yourself. Drop, 

cover, and hold on. Be prepared for aftershocks. 

Each time the earth shakes, drop, cover, and 

hold on.

• Take action. Do not wait for an official warning 

or instructions from officials.

• As soon as you can move safely, move quickly 

to a safe place. Follow evacuation signs or go 

as high or far inland (away from the water) as 

possible. 

• If there is earthquake damage, avoid fallen 

power lines, and stay away from weakened 

structures.

• When you are in a safe place, get more 

information from radio, television, or your 

mobile device (text or data). 

If you are on the beach or near water and feel 

an earthquake of any size and length, move 

quickly to high ground or inland (away from the 

water) as soon as you can move safely. Get more 

information from radio, television, or your mobile 

device (text or data). 

If you are outside of the tsunami hazard zone 

and receive a warning, stay where you are unless 

officials tell you otherwise. 

What is a tsunami and where do they happen?

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by a large, sudden disturbance of the sea. Undersea earthquakes are 

the most common cause, but landslides, volcanic activity, certain types of weather, and near-earth objects 

(e.g., asteroids, comets) can also cause tsunamis. 

Most tsunami waves are less than 10 feet high. In extreme events, they can exceed 100 feet. Large tsunamis 

can flood more than a mile inland. The first wave may not be the largest or most damaging, and the danger 

may last for hours or days. Tsunamis are a serious threat to life and property. Even small tsunamis can be 

dangerous, especially to swimmers, surfers, and boats in harbors.

Tsunamis can strike any U.S. coast, but risk is greatest for states and territories with Pacific and Caribbean 

coastlines. Low-lying areas such as beaches, bays, lagoons, harbors, river mouths, and areas along rivers 

and streams leading to the ocean are the most vulnerable. Tsunamis can happen any time, any season, and 

during any weather. They can be generated far away (across the ocean) or locally. Local tsunamis can arrive 

just minutes after a disturbance. 

If you live, work, or play at the coast, you should prepare for tsunamis. Tsunamis do not occur very often, but they pose a major threat to coastal 

communities. While they cannot be prevented, there are things you can do that could save your life and the lives of your loved ones.

December 2015