On December 26th, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake occurred off northern Sumatra, and generated a massive tsunami that caused deaths in 15 countries across the Indian Ocean, including the ASEAN Member States of Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.  Altogether, nearly 228,000 people perished, including about 170,000 from the local tsunami that hit Indonesia.  More than two decades after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, ASEAN continues to strengthen regional cooperation and disaster resilience efforts by drawing lessons from the disaster and advancing preparedness measures for future tsunami risks.

To bolster the capacity of ASEAN Member States to better prepare for tsunamis, the International Tsunami Information Centre, a joint partnership between the IOC and NOAA, is leading a 3-day regional workshop. The workshop will overview of the Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme, share best practices and case studies in assessment, warning and preparedness, and discuss strategies to ensure that all at-risk communities are assisted to become prepared and resilient to tsunami. Invited participants are National Tsunami Warning Centers and National Disaster Management Offices, the ASEAN Secretariat and AHA.

The workshop is jointly hosted and organized by the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and the United States Government, through the U.S. Mission to ASEAN, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response (DHR).