PTWS - 50 years of Tsunami Warning in the Pacific

The United States welcomes you to the Official Web site for events commemorating the 50th anniversary since the start of the International Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific. Following the 1960 M9.5 Chile earthquake and tsunami that traversed the Pacific killing in Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines, Member States of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (ICG/ITSU) in 1965 (IOC-IV.6) - the ITSU changed its name to the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS) in 2005 to recognize the comprehensive nature of tsunami disaster risk reduction.

In April 2015, the US hosted the PTWS's 50th anniversary.  The events will be part of Hawaii's Tsunami Awareness Month which remembers the 1946 Aleutian Islands tsunami that triggered the start of the US Seismic Sea (Tsunami) Wave Warning System in 1949.

20-21 April 2015:  International Tsunami Symposium
"Making the Pacific Ready for the Tsunami Threat"
The UNESCO IOC, IUGG, and the US NOAA will host a Symposium recognizing the history, achievements, and continuing challenges facing the PTWS and its Member States. The Symposium will be held at the new NOAA Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center (IRC) on Ford Island, Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. The Symposium is open attendance with a limit of 150 participants.  Pre-registration using the link below is required.  Registration is now closed.

Meeting Documents (Agenda, Participant List, Presentations, Abstracts and Posters, Photos)

22-24 April 2015: ICG/PTWS-XXVI
Twenty-sixth Session of the International Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.
The Session was held in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Regency Ballroom. The ICG is by invitation only for IOC Member States and invited Observers.

Meeting Documents (Agenda, Participant List, Documents, Photos) 

Click on the following links for further information

• International Tsunami Symposium:  IOC CL 2552, Meeting Documents, Logistics
• ICG/PTWS-XXVI Session:  IOC CL 2566, IOC CL 2566 Annex, Logistics, Registration
• Travel Information 
• PTWS 50th - Waikiki Hotel Reservations
• About Hawai’i - general information on the State of Hawaii, Island of O’ahu, and the Waikīkī community, in addition to contact information.
• PTWS 50th Local Organizing Committee (LOC)