The status box at the top of this page shows whether a tsunami warning, advisory or watch is in effect for Hawaii, checked every hour against National Weather Service alerts. It is a convenience, not the official channel. tsunami.gov, the outdoor warning sirens, Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone and your county emergency management agency always come first, and they will always be faster than any website.
Below: what each alert level means, how much warning time Hawaii usually gets, how to find out whether you are in an evacuation zone, and what to do the moment an alert goes out, whether you live here or are visiting. For the wider picture, see our guides to Hawaii’s natural disasters and hurricane season.
Tsunami warning, advisory, watch: what each alert means
Tsunami alerts for Hawaii come from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), part of NOAA’s National Weather Service, based in Honolulu. There are four levels, and each one asks something different of you.
| Alert | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Tsunami Warning | A tsunami that can cause widespread, dangerous coastal flooding and powerful currents is possible, imminent or expected. | Move out of tsunami evacuation zones to high ground or inland, following county instructions. |
| Tsunami Advisory | A tsunami with strong currents or waves dangerous to people in or very near the water is possible, imminent or expected. Widespread flooding is not expected. | Get out of the water and move away from beaches, harbors and marinas. |
| Tsunami Watch | A distant earthquake may have generated a tsunami that could reach Hawaii. The threat is still being evaluated. | Stay alert, follow official updates and be ready to act if it is upgraded. |
| Tsunami Information Statement | An earthquake has occurred, but there is no tsunami threat, or it is too far away to matter. | No action needed. |
Alerts change as wave data comes in. A watch can be upgraded to a warning, and a warning can be downgraded to an advisory once the waves turn out smaller than feared. Treat every change as the new instruction, and do not return to the coast until officials say it is safe.
How much warning time does Hawaii get?
It depends almost entirely on where the earthquake is. Hawaii’s tsunami risk falls into two very different categories, and they call for different reflexes.
Distant tsunamis: hours of warning
Most tsunamis that reach Hawaii are generated by large earthquakes around the Pacific Rim. The waves have to cross thousands of miles of open ocean, so there is usually several hours between the earthquake and the first wave: roughly 4 to 5 hours from the Aleutian Islands, around 7 to 8 hours from Japan or Kamchatka, and about 15 hours from Chile. The warning system is built around that lead time, which is why a distant-source warning is normally an orderly evacuation rather than a scramble.
Local tsunamis: minutes
A large earthquake on or near the Island of Hawaiʻi can send a tsunami onto nearby shorelines within minutes, before any official alert can go out. The 1975 Kalapana earthquake on the Big Island’s south flank did exactly that, and the local tsunami it generated killed two people camping at Halapē.
The rule for a local tsunami is simple: if you are near the coast and feel a strong earthquake, especially one that makes it hard to stand or goes on for a long time, move to high ground or inland immediately. Do not wait for a siren, a phone alert or a look at the ocean.
Hawaii’s tsunami history
The events that shaped Hawaii’s warning system, and the most recent statewide warnings:
| Date | Source | What happened in Hawaii |
|---|---|---|
| April 1, 1946 | Aleutian Islands, Alaska | 159 people killed statewide, most of them in Hilo, with no warning system in place. The disaster led to the creation of the Pacific warning system in 1949. |
| May 1960 | Chile (magnitude 9.5, the largest earthquake ever recorded) | 61 people killed in Hilo. Sirens sounded hours before the waves arrived, but many people did not evacuate or went back too soon. |
| November 29, 1975 | Local: Kalapana earthquake, Island of Hawaiʻi | A local tsunami reached the coast within minutes and killed two campers at Halapē. |
| March 11, 2011 | Japan (Tōhoku) | Statewide warning and overnight evacuation. No deaths in Hawaii, but damage to harbors, boats and coastal property, with some of the worst in Kona. |
| October 2012 | Haida Gwaii, Canada | Statewide warning and evacuation. Waves were small and the warning was downgraded. |
| July 29, 2025 | Kamchatka, Russia (magnitude 8.8) | Statewide warning and evacuations. The largest wave measured in Hawaii was about 5.7 feet at Kahului on Maui; the warning was downgraded to an advisory that night without major damage. |
The lesson running through all of them is the one from 1960: the warning only works if people act on it and stay out until the all-clear.
Are you in a tsunami evacuation zone?
Each county maps tsunami evacuation zones, and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) links to the official maps and address lookups. There are two zones to know:
- Tsunami Evacuation Zone. The area to leave when a tsunami warning is issued.
- Extreme Tsunami Evacuation Zone. A larger area that is only used for an extremely large tsunami, such as one from a great Aleutian earthquake. Officials will say explicitly if it is in effect.
Look up your home, workplace, school and hotel before you need to, and plan two ways out, because the obvious route will be the one everyone else takes. Much of the state’s most visited shoreline, including Waikīkī, Hilo’s bayfront and a great deal of the coastal development in Kona and West Maui, sits inside a tsunami evacuation zone.
If you cannot get out of the zone in time, officials advise vertical evacuation: move to the fourth floor or higher of a sturdy, reinforced concrete building. In a hotel, follow staff instructions; hotels in evacuation zones have tsunami plans.
How Hawaii’s tsunami sirens work
Hawaii has a statewide network of outdoor warning sirens. They are all-hazard sirens: the same steady tone is used for tsunamis, hurricanes and other emergencies. A siren does not tell you what the danger is. It tells you to get information, so when you hear one outside a scheduled test, turn on local radio or TV, or check your phone for an emergency alert.
The sirens are tested statewide on the first working day of each month at 11:45 a.m. A siren at any other time is not a test.
Sirens are designed to be heard outdoors, mostly near the coast. You may not hear one indoors, with the air conditioning running, or asleep, which is why phone alerts and a battery or hand-crank NOAA weather radio matter.
What to do when a tsunami warning is issued
- Confirm it with an official source: tsunami.gov, local radio or TV, a Wireless Emergency Alert or your county. Then act. Do not wait to see the water move.
- If you are in the water, on the beach or at a harbor, leave now.
- If you are in an evacuation zone, leave for high ground or inland by the route your county recommends. If the distance is short, walking is often faster than driving; coastal roads jam quickly.
- If you cannot get out of the zone in time, go vertical: the fourth floor or higher of a reinforced concrete building.
- If you are already outside the zone, stay there. Keep roads clear for people who need to evacuate.
- Boat owners should follow harbor and U.S. Coast Guard instructions, and should not go down to the harbor to check on a boat once waves are expected.
- Stay away until officials give the all-clear. A tsunami is a series of waves that can continue for hours, and the first wave is often not the largest.
- Never go to the shoreline to watch.
If you are visiting Hawaii during a tsunami alert
A tsunami warning closes beaches, parks and harbors, and ocean tours are cancelled. If your hotel is in an evacuation zone, staff will direct guests, either to leave the zone or to move to upper floors. If you have a flight, contact your airline before heading to the airport, and do not drive through an evacuation zone to get there. Once the warning is cancelled, expect beaches and harbors to reopen only after officials have checked them.
A tsunami advisory is much less disruptive for visitors: you will be asked to stay out of the water and away from the shoreline, but evacuating inland is not usually required.
Get alerts before you need them
- Wireless Emergency Alerts reach phones in the affected area automatically. Check that emergency alerts are switched on in your phone’s settings.
- County alerts. Each county runs free text and email alerts; Honolulu’s is HNL.info. HI-EMA links to all of them.
- A NOAA weather radio keeps working when power and cell networks do not.
- The status box on this page, for a quick check of whether anything is in effect. For minute-by-minute updates, go straight to tsunami.gov.
The same kit that gets a household through a hurricane covers a tsunami evacuation: water, a radio, lights, phone power and a grab-bag you can carry on foot. Our Hawaii emergency supply kit guide has the full list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a tsunami warning for Hawaii right now?
The status box at the top of this page shows whether a tsunami warning, advisory or watch was in effect for Hawaii at the last hourly check of National Weather Service alerts. For anything newer, go to tsunami.gov, and follow sirens, phone alerts and county instructions.
What is the difference between a tsunami warning and a tsunami watch?
A watch means a tsunami that could affect Hawaii may have been generated and is still being evaluated: stay alert and be ready. A warning means dangerous flooding is possible, imminent or expected: leave evacuation zones.
How often does Hawaii get tsunami warnings?
Statewide tsunami warnings that lead to evacuations are uncommon; recent examples came in 2011, 2012 and 2025. Advisories, watches and information statements for smaller or more distant earthquakes are more frequent.
When are Hawaii’s tsunami sirens tested?
On the first working day of each month at 11:45 a.m. A siren at any other time is a real alert: turn on local radio or TV, or check your phone.
Is Waikīkī in a tsunami evacuation zone?
Yes. Waikīkī is inside Honolulu’s tsunami evacuation zone. Check the official map for a specific address, and if you are in a high-rise and cannot leave the zone in time, move to the fourth floor or higher.
Can a tsunami hit Hawaii without an official warning?
Yes. A local earthquake can send a tsunami ashore within minutes. If you are near the coast and feel strong or long shaking, move to high ground or inland immediately without waiting for an alert.
Bottom line
Distant tsunamis give Hawaii hours of warning and the system works when people follow it; local tsunamis give minutes and the earthquake itself is the warning. Know whether the places you spend time are in an evacuation zone, keep phone alerts switched on, and when an alert goes out, act first and check this page second.