April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaiʻi

April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i observes Tsunami Awareness Month in April to remember the April 1, 1946 tsunami that was generated by a large earthquake in the Aleutian Islands. With no tsunami warning system then, the tsunami arrived unexpectedly, resulting in 159 fatalities in Hawaiʻi.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was founded three years later, and it currently serves as one of two regional warning centers for the United States, while also providing tsunami notifications and warning to 25+ other countries.

Maps of tsunami evacuation zones and preparedness information can be found online at NOAA’s Tsunami Aware website.

The Hawai‘i State Department of Education, Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness Branch produced a video, which provides a brief introduction of how a tsunami is generated, different types of tsunamis, signs of a local tsunami, the tsunami warning system, and how to plan for and respond to a tsunami threat.

To sign up for alerts from the Maui Emergency Management Agency, go to the county’s website at https://www.mauicounty.gov/983/MEMA-Alerts.