Info

The Pacific Tsunami Museum provides residents and visitors to the State of Hawaii with much needed tsunami education programs. One of the factors that makes this museum unique is that it is a living monument to those who lost their lives in past tsunamis. By combining scientific information with actual testimony taken from oral histories of tsunami survivors, the museum plans to keep the history alive in its exhibits and public programs. Oral history testimonies reinforce existing scientific information and provide a perspective that will make the tsunami experience "real" for the museum visitor. The museum is dedicated to providing public programs that are accessible to all museum visitors. It also plans to provide foreign language translations for all published museum program materials. The museum features a series of in-house permanent exhibits that interpret the tsunami phenomena, the Pacific Tsunami Warning system, the history of tsunamis in the Pacific Basin, tsunamis of the future, myths and legends about tsunamis, and public safety measures for tsunami disasters. On an international level, the Pacific Tsunami Museum is intended to become the Worldwide Center for Tsunami Research. The museum will foster national and international tsunami research. Scientists from Chile and Japan have already indicated an interest in collaborating with the museum. The museum will provide the scientific community with support services, such as office space and a research library, in exchange for assistance with public programs. The research library will serve as a repository for documents relating to tsunamis. Besides keeping the museum up to date, its research "arm" will generate future revenue for the museum through its collection of indirect overhead charges on scientific grants. Because a large portion of the museum is about oral history, the museum also serves as a resource center for community residents who are interested in conducting their own oral history projects. The museum consults with Mr. Warren Nishimoto, Director of the Center for Oral History, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and plans to work with the Center on a continuing basis.