Kamchatka earthquake highlights the advances in tsunami early warning systems

On 29 July 2025, global monitoring systems detected a large earthquake offshore of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, and widespread tsunami warnings were issued across the Pacific region. With a magnitude of 8.8, it was all too easy to think back to the 9.0 to 9.1 magnitude event that devastated Japan in 2011, or the 9.2 to 9.3 magnitude event on Boxing Day in 2004. Thankfully, on this occasion, the impact is believed to be relatively small by comparison.

However, the Kamchatka event did reveal impact of a different nature. Almost as soon as news broke of the earthquake, tsunami warnings were issued and millions of people were told to evacuate across locations at risk, 2 million in Japan alone. This was the result of two decades of research on hazard mitigation following the Boxing Day earthquake in 2004, which claimed the lives of more than 220 000 people in one of the largest disasters, in terms of loss of life, in modern history.

Immediately after the Indian Ocean event in 2004, British Geological Survey (BGS) scientists participated in responsive marine research expeditions that resulted in increased knowledge of sea-bed deformation resulting from the earthquake. Longer-term responses resulted in major advances in understanding earthquake tsunami mechanisms, which have further contributed to disaster risk reduction efforts.

Most significantly, in terms of public safety, has been the installation of improved tsunami warnings for coastal communities. Tsunami early warning systems (TEWS) are based on identifying earthquake magnitudes (usually larger than magnitude 7 to 8) that could result in hazardous tsunamis. The Indian Ocean Tsunami, took two hours to reach the coasts of India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, where around 80 000 people lost their lives – many of which could potentially have been saved if there had been an operational TEWS in place.

In the wake of the catastrophic 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami further advancements were made in our understanding of tsunami mechanisms, which ultimately led to improved mitigation measures around the world.

“Our knowledge base today, to plan and respond to tsunamis, is far beyond anything considered possible before the turn of the century.

“Following the devastating events of 2004, research has allowed us to be more prepared than ever before to mitigate the threat of this formidable phenomenon. This was highlighted during the Kamchatka earthquake and subsequent tsunamis. TEWS were activated which led to the evacuation of millions to safety and has ultimately led to a relatively minimal impact being reported.”

Professor David Tappin, BGS marine geologist and lead tsunami expert

Whereas warning systems for earthquake tsunamis are now effectively implemented for major events, there is still the major challenge to design warning systems for other tsunami mechanisms, such as landslides and volcanic eruptions. Hopefully, with new approaches potentially available through applications such as AI, these will become a reality.