The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) established at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Sciences, (INCOIS), Hyderabad, under Ministry of Earth Sciences is the national authority to issue tsunami advisories for India.

The ITEWC functions as an approved Tsunami Service Provider of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning & Mitigation System (IOTWMS) that is an integral part of the Global Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, established and coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

The Tsunami Programme of IOC-UNESCO ( http://www.ioc-tsunami.org/), through the coordination of regional meetings, capacity building activities and support of national and regional projects is a key stakeholder for tsunami risk reduction at the global level.

Four Intergovernmental Coordination Groups (ICGs) corresponding to the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Northeast Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean Sea have been established by IOC-UNESCO to address particular regional needs.

Further, to advise the IOC governing bodies on coordinated development of warning and mitigation system for tsunamis and other hazards related to sea level that are of common interest to all the ICGs, the IOC Assembly at it 24th Session ( Resolution XXIV-14 ) established a Working Group on Tsunamis and Other Hazards Related to Sea-Level Warning and Mitigation Systems (TOWS-WG).

The end-to-end tsunami early warning and mitigation system consists of Risk Assessment & Reduction, Detection, Warning & Dissemination, and Awareness & Response.

Regional tsunami warning systems operating within different ocean basins are the building blocks of the end-to-end tsunami warning and mitigation system, coordinated by IOC-UNESCO as a global "system of systems".

The service framework within each regional tsunami warning system ideally is comprised of National Tsunami Warning Centres (NTWCs) / Tsunami Warning Focal Points (TWFPs) in each Member State receiving tsunami forecast information from one or more Tsunami Service Providers (TSPs).

The TSPs operate 24x7 to rapidly detect large earthquakes using real-time seismic networks, assess tsunamigenic potential, monitor tsunami waves using real-time sea-level networks and distribute agreed-upon products to NTWCs/TWFPs operating within the ocean basin or sea.

Ultimately it is the responsibility of mandated national organisations operating within the legal framework of the sovereign nation in which they reside and serve, to provide alerts to their citizens and communities. These alerts are based either on their own analysis of the situation, on the forecast information received from Tsunami Service Providers, or on a combination of both.

The Area of Service of Tsunami Service Providers operating within a regional tsunami warning system are decided by the respective ICGs. The TOWS-WG provides coordination at the global level to ensure coverage to vulnerable coastal regions of participating Member States, while ensuring a high standard of service and inter-operability.

The approved Tsunami Service Providers that are currently operating under the IOC-UNESCO framework are given below:

Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS)

• Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC)
  http://tsunami.gov/
• North West Pacific Tsunami Advisory Centre (NWPTAC)
  http://www.data.jma.go.jp/svd/eqev/data/nwptac/index.html

Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CARIBE EWS)

• Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC)
  http://tsunami.gov/

Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS)

• Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC)
  http://www.bom.gov.au/tsunami
• Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC)
  http://www.tsunami.incois.gov.in/TEWS/TSP
• Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS)
  http://rtsp.bmkg.go.id

Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS)

• French National Tsunami Warning Centre (CENALT)
  http://www.info-tsunami.fr
• Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens
  http://www.gein.noa.gr/en/
• Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Turkey
  http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/2/en/
• National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy
  http://www.ingv.it/en/
• Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA), Portugal
  https://www.ipma.pt/en/index.html

You need to plan well ahead of time. If you live or work in the coastal area, find out from your local Emergency Services or local council whether you are in a surge-prone area. If you are, decide where you will go in the event of a storm surge. You might have a friend living on higher ground with whom you could go and stay. Wherever your nearest safe high ground shelter might be, work out the safest way to get there.