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CORVALLIS - The illustration shows a big wave and a figure running up a steep hill. The message is clear: when a tsunami is about to hit the coast, head for high ground.

The illustration, created by Oregon State University Extension Service designer Tom Weeks, has been displayed on the Oregon coast for many years as part of the state's tsunami warning system.

Now Weeks' illustration is being used to warn coastal residents around the world, providing unmistakable instructions in the universal language of pictures.

The tsunami warning illustration is one in a series of communication graphics Weeks developed as part of OSU's efforts to help people move quickly to safety in the event of an earthquake or tsunami. Other illustrations graphically identify tsunami hazard zones, evacuation routes and assembly areas. The signs have been adopted in other Pacific coastal states - Washington, California, Alaska, and Hawaii - as part of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, a collaborative state-federal program to improve tsunami warning systems and public awareness.

Jim Good, an OSU Extension Sea Grant scientist, developed the tsunami sign concepts with state geologists and planners and worked with Weeks on the illustration designs.

Following the Indian Ocean tsunami last winter, Good's graduate student, Somrudee Meprasert, went to Thailand to serve on a tsunami assessment group and she took copies of the signs with her to share with Thai officials. In May, Weeks' illustration was posted on new warning signs along Thai beaches as part of Thailand's new National Disaster Warning Centre.

"Extension Sea Grant's leadership and Tom's clear, unambiguous design will now save lives around the world, not just in the United States," Good said.