Where the first wave arrives in minutes: Indonesian lessons on surviving tsunamis near their sources

This booklet outlines public knowledge, natural warnings and evacuation strategies that helped people live through fast-arriving tsunamis threatening coastal areas near tsunami sources - most of which are on the Pacific Rim, beside parts of the Indian Ocean, in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, and on volcanic islands. It draws public-safety lessons from recent Indonesian experience with fast-arriving tsunami.

Initially prepared for Indonesian readers, it has been adapted for international use. It is based on experiences of eyewitnesses to two fast-arriving tsunamis: the enormous waves that took an estimated 160,000 lives in Aceh on December 26, 2004; and lesser waves that left some 700 dead on the south coast of Java on July 17, 2006. The booklet's lessons have three main themes: (i) the knowledge about the earliest warnings of tsunami hazards; (ii) the warnings of a tsunami underway; and (iii) the evacuation strategies.