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Indonesian dancers Murtala and Alfira O’Sullivan have a combined show called Sisa-Sisa at Bankstown Arts Centre during Sydney Festival.

Trauma of the Boxing Day tsunami inspires long-overdue Sydney Festival debut

Murtala and his wife Alfira O’Sullivan are performing a very personal double bill in Bankstown.

  • Chantal Nguyen

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GIF: Dr Alison Thompson OAM is the NSW Australian of the Year nominee for 2026. She is a global humanitarian with a focus on crisis zones.

Alison rollerbladed towards the World Trade Centre inferno. What she saw that day changed her life

Most people flee a crisis, but Alison Thompson runs towards it. Meet NSW’s Australian of the Year.

  • Kayla Olaya
Children evacuated schools in Davao City. A tsunami warning was later called off.

At least two dead after magnitude 7.4 earthquake hits Philippines

Small waves were detected on the coasts of the Philippines and Indonesia before the tsunami threat passed about two hours after the quake.

  • Jim Gomez
Cars are at a standstill in Panama City following the tsunami warning.

Why the massive Russian earthquake produced such a weak tsunami

When one of the largest quakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Russia on Wednesday, tsunami warning centres leapt into action – but the big waves failed to appear. What happened?

  • Katrina Miller
A tsunami warning is displayed on a television in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Wednesday,

Tsunami threat for Japan, Hawaii downgraded after evacuation orders sparked panic

 A powerful earthquake struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, damaging buildings, prompting evacuations and triggering tsunami warnings in Japan and parts of the US.

  • Satoshi Sugiyama
In this image taken from a video released by Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shows the aftermath of tsunami hitting the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk at Paramushir island of Kuril Islands, Russia, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences via AP)

Tsunami warning as it happened: Millions evacuated after strongest earthquake recorded since 2011 hits Russia; warnings issued for Pacific nations; Hawaii downgrades threat

A powerful earthquake triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations across the Pacific from Japan to Hawaii.

  • Cassandra Morgan, Hannah Hammoud and Kayla Olaya
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I lived through Fukushima. Australia should think twice about nuclear

Despite the fallout from the devastating 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan remains locked in to nuclear power. Australia can still choose other less dangerous sources of energy.

  • Ayumi Honda
A RAAF Hercules evacuates refugees from Banda Aceh after the tsunami.

Boxing Day tsunami a reminder we are all in harm’s way

A tsunami warning system was built after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami catastrophe but can we ever be thoroughly prepared for such a disaster?

  • The Herald's View
A family cries after hearing they have lost loved ones in Banda Aceh. They were waiting hopefully at the airport.

Twenty years after photographing the aftermath of a tsunami, I still check for high ground at the beach

Chief Herald photographer Nick Moir flew into Banda Aceh the day after the Boxing Day tsunami. He found a city turned upside down, bodies lying in the streets – and a sense of vigilance that remains with him still.

  • Nick Moir
The tsunami’s waves lashed Indonesia’s coast within minutes.

After the Boxing Day tsunami, we built a warning system. It may not be enough

Tsunamis remain uniquely devastating and impossible to predict – even for Australia.

  • Angus Dalton