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If I recall correctly, alerts were issued. The governments and tourist bureaus in the affected areas believed (wrongly) that a seismic sea wave wouldn't happen, since none had before. The Aussies have monitoring, we do in the Pacific Basin as others do.

The first report I'd heard was of an 8.2 in Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean. Still, Hawaii's civil defense went to high gear. As the reports climbed to 8.5-8.9 and finally 9.0, HCD went into overdrive. Tsunamis are taken seriously here.

People think of seismic sea waves in Hollywood visions, a looming wave that crests and crashes on shore. What happens is the water near shore retreats, fascinating onlookers, then moments, later the sea charges in, inundating large areas. Some are drowned but most deaths are from being battered by debris. Survivors chances are slim since the community's infrastructure has been wiped out. Many die later from simple infections turning gangrenous. Diseases like dysentery, cholera and malaria rage in the following period. Hospitals and medical services are overwhelmed.

The terrible death tolls reported daily may well be small; hate to say it but it may double.