Head of UNDRR message on World Tsunami Awareness Day 2024

Twenty years ago, the Indian Ocean tsunami which emanated as a result of an earthquake that occurred off the coast of Indonesia had devastating consequences. 

We lost so many lives, across so many countries. 

The worst impacts were of course in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India. 

But countries as far as Tanzania, from where I am recording this video, were also very badly impacted. It really showed us how sometimes, hazardous events, particularly some low frequency, high impact kind of hazards can have impacts that will ripple across the entire global system and across multiple geographies. 

In so many ways, that Indian Ocean Tsunami was a wake up call for humanity to do more, to have a much better understanding of disaster risks. 

People who were impacted in that disaster were not just from the five countries that I listed, the worst affected countries, but from across the world. 

People who've been warned have taken the right kinds of steps to protect themselves. So this is a huge progress we've made in the last 20 years, and it's an example of unprecedented global collaboration for an important area of common good. 

We have to do more. We have to continue to keep the awareness of tsunami risk high because tsunamis do not occur frequently, but when they occur, their effects can be devastating. 

So it's really important that we do not forget the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and continue to do everything we can do to protect ourselves, our children, our future generations, from the impact of future tsunamis.