The 2nd Multi-hazard Early Warning Conference closed today with a strong focus on good governance and effective early warnings.

Early warnings saved lives when Cyclone Fani hit the Indian state of Odisha but there are lessons to be learned on resilient infrastructure as a result of the widespread damage caused by the category 4 storm.

Major efforts are underway in Montenegro to reduce the risks from disasters with the launch of a national disaster loss database to mark the 40 th anniversary of a major earthquake.

Events such as last year's deadly Sulawesi tsunami in Indonesia underline the importance of communication and outreach to vulnerable populations.

More than 130 000 children have taken part in the first national tsunami simulation ever done with schools in Israel. The tsunami simulation was part of a wider national earthquake drill that was also organized today involving more than 2.5 million students throughout the country.

Earthquakes and tsunamis accounted for the majority of the 10,733 lives lost in disasters last year while extreme weather events accounted for most of 61.7 million people affected by natural hazards, according to analysis of 281 events recorded by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in its EM-DAT (International Disaster Database).

In the aftermath of Storm Pabuk, UNISDR is working with the Government of Thailand to align its national disaster management plan with the Sendai Framework.

Japan hosted the 2nd World Tsunami Museum Conference which attracted 156 participants from 17 countries to help raise awareness of tsunami risk.