In the early hours of 30 July 2025, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Russia near the Kamchatka Peninsula, becoming the sixth largest recorded earthquake since 1900.
Simultaneously, dozens of countries across the Pacific issued tsunami warnings and advisories, underscoring the true transboundary nature of these sorts of events and the significance of early warning systems in place.
Early warnings quickly became early action
Within minutes, waves five meters in height, and inundation reaching 200 meters inland was reported in Severo-Kurilsk. Significant flooding of the coastal area prompted the issuance of a state of emergency and evacuation of 2,700 people including 600 children across the Sakhalin region. Japan also evacuated over 1.9 million people, including those at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the Tsunami Threats issued in Pacific Countries after the Kamchatka quake. (Photo credit: NOAA/ National Weather Service, US Tsunami Warning System / https://www.tsunami.gov)
The effective and coordinated early warning provided by the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWS) saved countless lives.
Coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC), the PTWS is a network of 46 member States across the Pacific, supported by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu. As the longest serving intergovernmental disaster risk reduction platform, it was established in 1965, following the devastating 9.5 earthquake and tsunami in Chile, which caused fatalities as far as Japan and highlighted the need for a uniform tsunami early warnings system.
The effectiveness of this transboundary early warning system (EWS) offers a real-time case study in the value of Early Warnings for All (EW4All) - a global initiative to ensure everyone is protected by life-saving alerts by 2027.
Supported by the ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness and together with UNESCO-IOC, the PTWS has embarked on an ocean basin wide tsunami preparedness capacity assessment in 2025.
Initial findings of the assessment, as demonstrated in the Kamchatka event, show that the shared seismic and ocean observation networks, joint tsunami risk analyses, mature multilateral standard operating procedures and advancements in reliable telecommunications are all representative of the value of regional cooperation in the effective 'upstream' leg of the tsunami warning value chain.
Moreover, it has been observed that the rapid issuance of international alerts enabled governments and local authorities to activate preparedness protocols, powering the 'downstream' level of tsunami warnings in high-risk areas. The impacts of initiatives like the Tsunami Ready Programme and the International Tsunami Information Centre have been made evident through local governments ability to act on tsunami warnings through coastal sirens, public awareness materials, mass SMS alerts and evacuation drill exercises.
It is not enough to simply consider tsunami risk. Coastlines represent hotspots for cascading, compounding and complex risks.
Shortly after the earthquake and its initial tsunami waves were felt, the Klyuchevskoy volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula produced a powerful eruption. The initial sluggish eruption itself began on 20 July, but the deep seismic shift from the earthquake supercharged the lava flow to pour down the western slope of the volcano and as high as six kilometers above the crater rim. Sitting within the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Kamchatka region is, in the words of local leading scientists, a "colossal tectonic knot".
Recent history shows that hazards in the Pacific rarely occur in isolation. In 2023, two tropical cyclones and a 6.5 earthquake impacted over 80 per cent of Vanuatu's population in just 3 days. The 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai event saw the eruption inducing a tsunami, and heavy ashfall. Climate change supercharged the Philippines' 2024 typhoon season, with six consecutive storms in under one month, further exacerbated by a sea level rise rate three times faster than the global average.
The current tsunami event is a reminder that these threats do not occur in isolation and that vulnerable coastal communities face compounding risks intensified by climate change.
ESCAP analysis, as outlined in the Figure, shows the widespread exposure of critical coastal infrastructure, not only to tsunami, but also earthquakes, flooding, sea level rise and tropical cyclones.
As shown, Japan has the highest building stock under threat, with US$1.67 trillion exposed. Most significantly though, it is evident that small island States stand the most to lose with significant proportions of total infrastructure exposed to these coastal hazards. Kiribati and Tuvalu stand out with 82 and 75 per cent of building stock exposed, respectively.
Figure 1: Building Stock Exposed to Tsunami and Multi-hazard Zones in the Pacific Ocean (Source: ESCAP Authors)
Arguably, the minimal destruction to Russian coastal communities can be attributed to learning lessons from previous events. The 1950s saw significant reforms in city planning, including the decision to rebuild Severo-Kurilsk on elevated terrain, and the establishment of the Russian Tsunami Warning System.
The increasing exposure to a range of compounding coastal hazards calls for risk-informed planning and resilient infrastructure
As all eyes were on the ocean waves on 30 July, the world also witnessed the power of regional early warning systems to save lives. However, the increasing overlap of hazards demands a shift toward multi-hazard coastal preparedness.
Sustaining investments in international early warning systems, embracing a multi-hazard approach, and building resilient coastal infrastructure are essential.
The Kamchatka tsunami showed that preparedness, not panic, saves lives - but as risks grow more complex, it is our shared foresight, unity, and investment that must rise to meet the waves.
