There is very little that can be done to prevent the occurrence of natural hazards (and in particular tsunamis). But humankind, being as adaptable as it is, has learned to live with all these hazards.
Proper planning of protective and preventive measures is a key factor to reduce losses due to this natural hazard. Present protective measures involve primarily the use of tsunami early warning systems employing advanced technological instrumentation for data collection and for warning communications. Countries like Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States have developed sophisticated warning systems and have accepted the responsibility to share warning information with other countries.
In 1965, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC) accepted the United States’ offer to expand its existing tsunami centre in Honolulu to become the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC, http://ptwc.weather.gov/ ). It also established an International Co-ordination Group (ICG/ITSU) subsequently renamed the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS, and the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC, http://itic.ioc-unesco.org/) to review the activities of the International Tsunami Warning System for the Pacific (ITWS).This set-up has facilitated collaboration at an international level and among many members of the Pacific region. The ICG/PTWS hold regular meetings to assess progress and activities offered by its service.
With 46 Member States (as of May 2018) from the Pacific and its marginal seas, the PTWS area of responsibility includes the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean regions of the Pacific and all attached marginal seas, including the Philippine Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, South China Sea, Java Sea, Arafura Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Mindanao Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, Bismarck Sea, Solomon Sea, Coral Sea, and Tasman Sea.
Similar Tsunami Warning Systems also exist for the Indian Ocean (IOTWS) and the North Eastern Atlantic, The Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG/NEAMTWS).