Contact Information
Address:
91-270 Ft Weaver Road
Ewa Beach, HI 96706
United StatesPhone:
1-808-689-8207
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC)
As the primarly operational headquarters for the Pacific Tsunami Warning System, PTWC provides warnings for Pacific basin teletsunamis (tsunamis that can cause damage far away from their source) to almost every country around the Pacific rim and to most of the Pacific island states. This function is carried out under the auspices of theUNESCO/IOCInternational Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. A few destructive teletsunamis are generated each century by great earthquakes around the Pacific rim. Such tsunamis can propagate across the entire Pacific in less than 24 hours, and cause widespread destruction along shorelines located thousands of miles from the source. With ever-increasing population and development along most coastlines, there is a corresponding increase in risk. The last destructive teletsunami occurred in 1964 following the great Alaska earthquake.
NOAA's two Tsunami Warning Centers (PTWC and WC/ATWC) have separate areas of responsibility, which are the geographical areas within which each Center has the responsibility for the dissemination of messages and the provision of interpretive information to emergency managers and other officials, news media, and the public.