Tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Ocean: opportunity for enhanced regional cooperation

Aligning with the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, led by the United Nations, this policy document builds on the Capacity Assessment of Tsunami Preparedness in the Pacific Ocean: Status Report 2025 (UNESCO-IOC, forthcoming 2025b), and highlights that enhancing tsunami preparedness and resilience in the Pacific Ocean countries necessitates comprehensive strategic and capacity improvements across multiple dimensions. Marking 60 years of Pacific tsunami warning operationalization, this document emphasizes the importance of multilevel governance, sustainable financing and multi-hazard approaches to strengthen tsunami preparedness and resilience in vulnerable coastal communities across the Pacific region.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest, most diverse and most tsunami-prone of any of the Earth’s ocean basins. Tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean can be generated by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity or cone collapse and meteorite impact. With large earthquakes and tsunamis caused by subduction zones and transform faults in the Pacific Rim – also known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire” – coastal communities and nations are exposed and vulnerable to near-field (local), regional and distant source tsunamis. The tsunami hazard profile of the Pacific region is also shaped significantly by interconnected exposures. Climate change, informal urbanization, inadequate data and coordination deficiencies all contribute to cascading and compounding disaster impacts. Addressing these underlying drivers is not a secondary activity but the primary route for building resilience. Including risk reduction in governance, urban planning and climate adaptation policymaking is critical for safeguarding lives, ecosystems and livelihoods in the region.