Tsunamis (pronounced soo-ná-mees), also known as seismic sea waves (mistakenly called “tidal waves”), are a series of enormous waves created by an underwater disturbance such as an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, or meteorite. A tsunami can move hundreds of miles per hour in the open ocean and smash into land with waves as high as 100 feet or more. Located in Honolulu, the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC) was established Resolution IV-6 in November 1965 by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is hosted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service, who provides the Director and office staff in Honolulu, Hawaii. ITIC maintains and develops relationships with scientific research and academic organizations, civil defense agencies, and the general public in order to carry out its mission to mitigate the hazards associated with tsunamis by improving tsunami preparedness for all Pacific Ocean nations.

Emergency managers and other officials are in urgent need of operational tools that will provide accurate tsunami forecast as guidance for rapid, critical decisions in which lives and property are at stake. The more timely and precise the warnings are, the more effective actions can local emergency managers take and the more lives and property can be saved.

NOAA has primary responsibility for providing tsunami warnings to the Nation, and a leadership role in tsunami observations and research.

The National Weather Service operates two Tsunami Warning Centers and the International Tsunami Information Center. Official tsunami warning capability in the U.S. began in 1949 as a response to the 1946 tsunami generated in the Aleutian Islands that devastated Hilo.