Japan on Thursday introduced a draft resolution to a U.N. General Assembly committee aiming to designate Nov. 5 as World Tsunami Day to raise awareness of the threats posed by seismic sea waves around the world.
Around 60 countries, mostly Asian, African and island nations, signed as cosponsors of the document, which was submitted to the Second Committee on Economic and Financial Issues.
Parts of eastern Japan were devastated by a tsunami after a magnitude-9 earthquake struck offshore on March 11, 2011. The country now designates Nov. 5 as tsunami and disaster preparedness day.
Listing major tsunami that have struck in the past, also including those that battered Peru, Chile and coastal states of the Indian Ocean, the draft resolution stresses that "tsunami have claimed many lives and caused tremendous damage and are a common challenge for many countries."
The draft resolution notes the significance of disaster preparedness and early warnings, and cites the story of a villager in 19th-century Japan who warned his neighbors about a tsunami by torching his rice sheaves.
The event is said to have taken place on Nov. 5, 1854, and eventually led to that day being chosen as disaster preparedness day.
The document also mentions the Sendai Declaration and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted at a U.N. conference held in March in Japan, underscoring that the "understanding of disaster risk for prevention and mitigation" is one of the priorities for action.