Survive a Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of destructive and very dangerous waves that result from earthquake activity or some other type of underwater disturbance. In recent years, tsunamis have caused an incredible amount of damage. In order to survive a tsunami, you must be prepared, vigilant, and calm. This article sets out steps that can help you to survive a tsunami, provided you learn and act upon these steps in advance.

Steps

Preparing in Advance

1. Learn about the potential for danger in advance. It is important to consider whether or not you live somewhere that could potentially face a tsunami. It is likely that you are at some risk if:
   • Your home, school, or workplace is in a coastal region, near the sea.
   • The elevation of your home, school or workplace is at sea level or fairly low and on flat or only slightly undulating land. If you don't know the elevation level of your home, school or workplace, find out. Some local authorities use elevation as a warning indicator.
   • There are warning signs indicating that your area is prone to tsunamis.
   • Your local authorities have issued information about the potential for tsunamis.
   • Natural sea barriers such as levees of dunes have been removed for development.
2. Be aware if tsunamis have struck your coastal region in the past. Do some library research or ask at the local government office. FEMA has a website enabling online flood risk searches.
   • Most tsunamis happen in what's called the "ring of fire," an area in the Pacific ocean known for its geologic activity. Chile, the western United States, Japan, and the Philippines are especially vulnerable.
3. Prepare essential materials in an easy-to-obtain location. If a tsunami (or other natural disaster) hits, chances are you'll need a few survival items, and you'll need them fast. It can be helpful to have both a safety and survival pack already assembled:
   • Make a safety pack. Food, water, and a first aid kit are among the basics required. Keep the safety pack somewhere obvious, well-known to everyone in the building and easy to grab in an emergency. It can also help to leave a raincoat or other coat for each person near the safety pack.
   • Make a personal Make a Survival Pack for each person in the family, and a family survival pack with common items for everyone. Include a supply of necessary medications for each member of the family. Don't forget survival items for your pets.
4. Develop an evacuation plan. An evacuation plan must be prepared in advance to be of use. In developing one, consider your family, your workplace, your school, and your wider community. If necessary, begin to develop a community-wide evacuation plan if nothing is being done in your community. Take the initiative to start developing the plan, and involve local authorities and other residents. Lack of evacuation plans and local warning systems put you, your family and your entire community at increased risk for injury or death during and after a tsunami. These are the things that should be part of a successful evacuation plan:
   • Discuss with family, and colleagues the various options for evacuation. Know, for example, where you might reunite with your loved ones should a tsunami hit.
   • Conduct practice drills to ensure that all members of the community are clear about what they need to do and where they need to go during a safety evacuation.
   • Include a plan that can ensure a head count of every single member of the community; ensure that assistance for disabled or ill persons can be provided.
   • Ensure that warning and evacuation signals are understood by the community in advance — distribute pamphlets or give lectures to ensure that everybody is aware. Read Understand Tsunami Notification Terms.
   • Remember to provide multiple safety routes owing to the possibility of an earthquake destroying roads and other infrastructure, preventing exit using some routes.
   • Consider what types of sheltered areas might exist in the evacuation zones; do such shelters need to be built in advance?

Recognizing the Telltale Tsunami Signs

1. Be especially careful after an earthquake. If you live in a coastal zone, the occurrence of an earthquake should be immediate cause for alarm and evasive action.
2. Look out for a rapid rise and fall in coastal waters. If the sea suddenly recedes (draws back), leaving bare sand, this is a major warning sign that there is about to be a sudden surge of water inland.
3. Notice any odd behavior changes in animals. Watch for animals leaving the area or behaving abnormally, such as trying to seek human shelter or grouping together in ways they would not normally do.
4. Heed community and government warnings. If the local authorities do have time to issue a warning, take heed. Inform yourself in advance of how the local authorities plan to make warnings so that you do not mistake or ignore the warning when it comes. Share that information with family, friends, neighbors and the community; if the local authorities have pamphlets, a website or other information sources, ask for copies to distribute or request that the local authority fulfill this role.

Evacuating After a Tsunami Hits

1. Abandon belongings. If a tsunami hits, save lives, not possessions. Trying to retrieve things and belongings may hamper your escape by causing you to lose valuable time. Grab your safety pack, something to keep you warm, your family and leave immediately. Tsunami survivors act quickly, and usually don't bother with trying to save possessions.
2. Move inland, and to high ground. The first thing you should try to do, if possible, is to move away from the coast, lagoons or other bodies of water, towards higher ground and even into hills or mountains. Move until you are either 2 miles (3,200 m) inland or 100 feet (30 m) above sea level.
   • Expect roads to be totally wiped out by a tsunami. If you're planning on using roads to get where you need to go, think again. In a full-blown tsunami, many roads will be wiped out, either by the seismic activity of the earthquake or by the tsunami itself. Have a good sense of the general direction you want to be heading in, and consider keeping a compass in your survival pack.
3. Climb high. If you cannot head inland because you are trapped, head up. Although not ideal because the structure itself could collapse, if this is your only option, choose a high, sturdy and solid building and climb up it. Go as high as you possibly can, even onto the roof.
4. Climb a sturdy tree. As a very last resort, if you find yourself trapped and unable to move inland or climb a high building, find a strong and tall tree and climb up it as high as you can. There is a risk of trees being dragged under by the tsunami, however, so this really is a measure to be used only if all other alternatives are impossible. The stronger the tree, the higher it stands, and the sturdier its branches for resting on (you may be there for hours), the better your chances are of surviving.
5. React quickly if you are caught up in the water. If you did not manage to evacuate but find yourself caught up in the tsunami for one reason or another, there are things that you can do to try to survive:
   • Grab onto something that floats. Use a floating object as a raft to keep yourself above the water. Items that float such as tree trunks, doors, fishing equipment etc. may be in the water with you.

Surviving the Aftermath of a Tsunami

1. Brace for aftershocks and additional waves. A tsunami comes in waves. There may be many, many waves lasting for hours and the next wave may be even larger than the last.
2. Try to get reliable information. Listen to the radio for updates on what is happening. Do not trust word of mouth. It is better to wait than to return too early and be caught by more incoming waves.
3. Wait for local authorities to issue an "All Clear." Only then should you return to your home. Find out in advance how local authorities propose to announce such a notice. Remember that roads may be extremely damaged by the tsunami waves and you may have to take alternative routes. A good pre-planned emergency plan should account for this possibility and provide alternative routes and gathering places.
4. Know that survival continues after the tsunami has passed. Once the tsunami has subsided, there will be debris, destroyed buildings and broken infrastructure. There may also be dead bodies. Fresh water supplies may be destroyed or disrupted. Food supplies will most likely be unavailable. The potential for disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, grief, starvation, and injuries will make the post-tsunami period nearly as perilous as the tsunami itself. An emergency plan should also consider the aftermath and what you'll need to do to protect yourself, your family and your community.
5. Rally the community behind a rehabilitation plan. If your local authorities have not put action plans into place, suggest that they do so or form a community action group to consider a post-tsunami plan. Things that can help survival post tsunami include:
   • Establishing an advance stash of fresh water. Whether bottled water or filtered water, an emergency water supply should be in place in your community.
   • Opening up undamaged homes and buildings to others. Help those in distress and provide them with shelter.
   • Ensuring that there are power generators to enable cooking, maintenance of hygiene and return of basic health and transportation services.
   • Running emergency shelters and food distribution.
   • Getting health care into action immediately.
   • Quelling fires and gas ruptures.

Tips

• If you are stuck in a tsunami, then try to swim or hold on to something.
• Evacuate your children, too. Strive to stay together. Give clear and simple instructions, and make sure they know where to gather if you become separated. Because it may not be possible to hold onto little hands against an onslaught of water, teach your children in advance how to give themselves their best chance of survive if separated.
• If you are at the beach and see the tide receding strangely and completely, evacuate immediately; this is not an invitation to investigate but one to run in the opposite direction.
• As you move very quickly, away from the sea, warn as many people as possible whilst doing so. Shout clearly and loudly "Tsunami! Head for high ground!" without stopping your own evacuation. Once the tide suddenly recedes, it is likely that you have only a couple of minutes at best before the tsunami arrives.
• Whenever you hear an official warning of tsunami, don't ignore it or delay responding. Be ready to evacuate the area, and seek high, inland sanctuary. It is far better to prove that you were ready for a tsunami that does not materialize than to try to prove that you're tougher or smarter than Mother Nature and to die in the attempt. Do not run into the water to save anything.
• If a distant tsunami is detected, major cities are alerted a few hours or less before the tsunami hits. Heed these warnings!
• The loud roaring of the ocean, tide retreating ,and a strong earthquake are three signs of a tsunami. If you're at the beach and you experience any of these cases, go inland or to higher ground.
• The first time you hear of a tsunami coming, grab your emergency kits and drive inland to a city/town where and stay there until the "all clear" is announced by authorities
• It is best to find a house inland or elevated to stay in before the tsunami starts.
• If you see the tide go in quickly, it will soon come back and strike.
• If you know a tsunami is coming tell your family to meet in a safe place just in case you and your family get separated, or each of you get a whistle to hear eachother to find.
• Teach children to recognize the signs of an impending tsunami. Ten year old Tilly Smith saved her family and other lives in the 2004 tsunami because she listened in geography class.

Warnings

• The main cause of death during a tsunami is drowning. The second major cause is being battered by debris.
• Always listen to instructions and advice from the police when a tsunami is coming. Usually instructions from the authorities are put on the radio, so keep a lookout for such.
• Don't wait for warnings. If you think a tsunami is coming evacuate immediately.

Things You'll Need

• Food
• Clean water
• 1 First Aid kit - per family or group
• Dry, warm clothing and a waterproof coat if possible or ponchos - per person
• Medicines needed by any person on a regular basis such as an asthma inhaler or heart medication.
• Flashlight and batteries - per family or group
• Emergency food and water supplies
• Clothes - two pairs - per person
• Pair of powerful magnets - per family or group
• Battery or crank-operated radio - per family or group
• Pillow (inflatable type) - per person
• Cell phone/ mobile phone
• Blankets
• Utility Knife (Army Knife)
• Emergency Money
• Copies of important information eg. Birth certificate, Will, Identification

Related Articles

• Understand Tsunami Notification Terms
• Pack an Emergency Kit for the House
• Get Insurance Against Hurricanes
• Survive a Volcanic Eruption
• Prepare Your Family for a National Disaster
• Be Safe During a Heat Emergency

Sources and Citations

See also

• Know Naturally when an Earthquake Will Strike
• Protect Yourself During an Earthquake if You Are Disabled
• Act After an Earthquake
• React During an Earthquake
• Survive an Earthquake
• Build a Seawall
• Prepare for a Tsunami
• Prepare for an Earthquake
• Survive an Earthquake in Your Car
• Deal With Being Indoors During an Earthquake

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