Get ready for Tsunami Hīkoi Week 2025.

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (HBCDEM) is encouraging whānau, schools and businesses in the region to practise their tsunami evacuation routes as part of Tsunami Hīkoi Week, which runs from 10 to 16 March.

Tsunami Hīkoi Week is an annual initiative to mark the anniversary of the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, which claimed the lives of 15,500 people in the Tōhoku region. The event also demonstrated the importance of tsunami preparedness, as practising helped save the lives of more than 95 percent of people who safely evacuated, after they felt a long or strong earthquake.

A tsunami hīkoi is a walk that takes you along your tsunami evacuation route either inland or towards high ground.

HBCDEM Acting Group Manager Shane Briggs says it is important to know whether you are in the tsunami evacuation zone and what to do if you feel a long or strong earthquake.

‘Long’ refers to an earthquake that lasts for more than a minute, ‘strong’ refers to an earthquake that is so strong that it would be difficult to stand.

“Tsunami Hīkoi Week is about building our community resilience by encouraging people to learn and practise their tsunami evacuation walk,” Shane Briggs said.

“We are particularly at risk of tsunami here in Hawke’s Bay, as Aotearoa’s largest and most active fault -- the Hikurangi Subduction Zone -- is located off the East Coast.

“A local source tsunami could occur any time and could arrive in minutes, with no time for an official warning. So, everyone who lives, works, or spends time in the tsunami evacuation zone should know how to prepare for a tsunami and what to do to stay safe.

“Practising your evacuation walk helps you and your whānau to act quickly and safely when the real thing happens.

“We know that practising your tsunami hīkoi works because effective evacuation planning and public education helped save thousands of lives in the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami,” Shane Briggs said.

Shane Briggs said this year’s Tsunami Hīkoi Week is a timely opportunity for Hawke’s Bay residents to familiarise themselves with the region’s new single blue tsunami evacuation zone.

“We recently updated the way tsunami evacuation zones are displayed for Hawke’s Bay,” Shane Briggs said.

“The previous map had red, orange, and yellow zones to reflect different tsunami sizes.

“The change to just one blue zone is the best way to represent the potential risk of a tsunami and to clearly show in blue which areas need to self-evacuate following a long or strong earthquake.

“Everyone should take the time to check the updated tsunami evacuation maps and remember: if an earthquake is long or strong, get gone. Move immediately to high ground or inland, out of the blue zone,” Shane Briggs said.

How to practise your tsunami hīkoi

- Check to see if your home, work, school or community meeting place is in the tsunami evacuation zone on the Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management group website.

- Plan a route that takes you safely out of the zone.

- Plan to walk or bike if you can. If people try to evacuate in their vehicles, this can cause congestion and delay emergency services and people with mobility issues from reaching safety. 

- Decide where you will go, and make sure everyone in your family knows, in case you are not all together.

- Practise your tsunami hīkoi with your whānau, colleagues or classmates. If you have a pet, you could walk them along your tsunami evacuation route. 

7 March 2025

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