World Tsunami Awareness Day 2023: Date, history, significance

World Tsunami Awareness Day 2023: From history to theme to date, here is all that you need to know about World Tsunami Awareness Day.

World Tsunami Awareness Day 2023: The horror of 2004 Tsunami is fresh in our memory. Tsunami caused the death of lakhs of people. With the epicenter along the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, Tsunami hit the coastlines of Indian Ocean and caused havoc. Tsunami is defined as a series of waves that is caused by the displacement of water usually in large water bodies such as seas and oceans. It is important to create awareness about Tsunami to let people know of the dangers of these natural disasters and ways of saving themselves and their loved ones.

Every year, World Tsunami Awareness Day is celebrated to create awareness about this natural disaster. As we gear up to observe this important day this year, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Date:

Every year, World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed on November 5. This year, it will be observed on a Sunday.

History:

In Japan, the word Inamura-no-hi means burning of the rice sheaves. During an earthquake in 1854, a farmer saw the tide receding – a clear sign of a Tsunami coming. He then set fire to his harvested rice to make the villagers aware of the looming disaster. To honour this true story of Japan, November 5 is chosen as the day for observing World Tsunami Awareness Day.

Significance:

The theme of this year's World Tsunami Awareness Day is - Fighting Inequality for a Resilient Future. "On this year’s World Tsunami Awareness Day, of 5 November, Asia’s coastal and island communities can look back and take pride in having rebuilt their ways of life and regional economies, but much still needs to be done to achieve early warning services and greater preparedness," wrote UNESCO in their official website. "WTAD 2023 activities will focus on raising awareness about the underlying disaster risk drivers – poverty, inequality and other factors of vulnerability – which make tsunamis more deadly for those already most at risk," UNESCO added.