Dealing with Local Tsunami on Pakistan Coast

Tsunami originating from a local source can arrive at Pakistan coastline within minutes. In the absence of a comprehensive and well-coordinated management plan, the fast-approaching tsunami might wreak havoc on the coast. To combat such a threat, a wide range of short- and long-term mitigation measures are needed to be taken by several government and private sector organizations as well as security agencies. Around 1000-km coastline is divided administratively into two provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh and further into seven districts. Most of the coastal communities were severely affected by an earthquake of magnitude 8+ on 28 November 1945 followed by a devastating tsunami. In contrast to the level of posed hazard and multiple-fold increase in vulnerabilities since then, the risk mitigation efforts are trivial and least coordinated. It is important to provide stakeholders with a set of prerequisite information and guidelines on standardized format to develop their organizational strategies and course of action for earthquake and tsunami risk mitigation in a well-coordinated manner, from local to the national level.