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Tsunami Emergency Planning in Australia Handbook

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Australia is surrounded to the north and east by some 8,000 kilometres of active tectonic plate boundaries capable of generating tsunami that would reach Australia within 2-4 hours. Other plate boundaries across the Pacific basin, such as the South American subduction zone, can also
generate tsunamis that would reach Australia in 14-18 hours. 

Australia has a predominantly coastal population, with 87% of people living within 50 kilometres of the coast. This equates to more than 22 million Australians and means that a significant proportion of the population is exposed to tsunami risk. The exposed population can also swell during peak holiday periods, due to large numbers of domestic and international tourists spending leisure time at the beach.

Understanding tsunami risk in Australia helps emergency managers and at-risk communities to prepare more effectively for a tsunami. Australia has not experienced a catastrophic tsunami disaster on the scale of either the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami or the 2011 Japan Tohoku earthquake in recent history. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander oral history, storylines and geological evidence, indicate that larger tsunamis and significant inundation events have occurred in Australia in the past.

Handbook Showcase Webinar - 5 November 2025

This online showcase launched the revised tsunami emergency planning handbook. This handbook is a guide to nationally agreed principles and good practice for tsunami emergency planning.

On World Tsunami Awareness Day, 5 November, AIDR showcased the recently revised Tsunami Emergency Planning in Australia Handbook (2025). The theme for World Tsunami Awareness Day 2025 is 'Be tsunami ready: invest in preparedness'.

Australia is surrounded to the north and east by some 8,000 kilometres of active tectonic plate boundaries capable of generating tsunamis that would reach Australia within 2-4 hours. Other plate boundaries across the Pacific basin, such as the South American subduction zone, can also generate tsunamis that would reach Australia in 14-18 hours. Understanding tsunami risk in Australia helps emergency managers and at-risk communities to prepare more effectively for a tsunami.

This webinar was presented by four experts involved in the writing and review of the handbook. They discussed the updates to this edition of the handbook, the role of tsunami science in coastal management, how emergency management has evolved since the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and discussed a case study on the WA Tsunami Inundation Modelling Project - informing evacuation maps in WA.

 

Guest Speakers:

  • David Parsons ESM, Director, Crisis Management Australia; President, Australian Institute of Emergency Services

  • Associate Professor Hannah Power, Associate Professor in Coastal and Marine Science, University of Newcastle

  • Dr Jane Sexton, Director, State Intelligence, Predictions and Planning, Queensland Fire Department

  • Adrian Brannigan, Intelligence Analyst, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, WA

Moderator:

  • Dr Isabel Cornes, Senior Project Officer, Knowledge Development, Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience

Webinar resources: