The Indian Ocean tsunami which occurred on December 26, 2004 caused 1PRECEDENT disaster and claimed the priceless lives of more than 300,000 people 2WORLD. Among the conditions which contributed to the disaster were the enormous scale of the tsunami itself and 3ADEQUATE in the infrastructure, including tsunami disaster prevention facilities, evacuation facilities, emergency information communication systems, and others. However, it is 4REGRET to think that at least the loss of human life would not have been so 5EXTEND if proper awareness and scientific knowledge in connection with tsunamis had been more 6WIDE and information on the tsunami had been transmitted quickly. In 7VIRTUE all cases, tsunamis are caused by submarine earthquakes, and these earthquakes bear no relation to the seasons or time of day. Current technology has not clarified the phenomena that could give warning of an 8PEND earthquake, and thus has not reached the stage where it is possible to predict earthquakes in advance.