The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) runs the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. More precisely, the center is operated through NOAA’s National Weather Service and is based in Hawaii.
The PTWC detects and analyzes earthquakes and sea-level changes to determine whether a tsunami has formed and where it may travel. It directly serves Hawaii and several U.S. Pacific and Caribbean territories, while also providing international guidance through the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System. UNESCO helps coordinate that international system, but it does not operate the center itself.
The facility began in 1948 after the deadly 1946 Aleutian Islands tsunami exposed the need for warnings in Hawaii. After the 1960 Chilean earthquake, its role expanded into a Pacific-wide warning system, formally operating under UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission from 1965. NOAA also developed the DART deep-ocean buoy system, which measures tsunami waves offshore before they reach land.