(CNN) It begins with a roaring sound not dissimilar from a freight train or a Boeing 747 in takeoff.

Then, a wall of water, with an unimaginable force that can flatten an entire building in seconds.

If you survive the initial blow, you now face an unrelenting pounding of wave after wave, and like a pinball machine, you are being battered by debris, uprooted trees and cars that share the same violent trajectory as you.

Those who have lived through a tsunami describe an almost unsurvivable scenario.

"The first wave just looked like a wall of white coming toward you, and the sound ... it was just screams everywhere and just the crashing sound. .. the water just kept coming and coming," one tsunami survivor told CNN.

So how do people survive one of Mother Nature's most deadly forces?

Get to higher ground

Tsunamis are giant waves triggered by anything that disrupts the ocean, including earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea, so the first sign may be a rumbling Earth, or a rapid rise or fall in ocean waters.

Don't wait for a warning. Run.

For people in low-lying, coastal areas, a tsunami could arrive just minutes after an earthquake, far too quickly for official warnings to be disseminated.

"Similar to storm surge in a hurricane, if you are on the beach when a tsunami comes ashore, you would not survive it," said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.

"The force of the water, as well as all the turbulence and currents within, would be too strong. A 6-10 foot tsunami, while it doesn't sound huge, would be extremely damaging, and can run ashore great distances, depending on the elevation of the coastline," Miller said.

Too late to run. Now what?

Sometimes it may be impossible to avoid a tsunami.

If you are trapped or unable to evacuate to higher ground, your next step is to find a sturdy vertical refuge.

This is not ideal as the structure itself could collapse, but if it is your only course of action, head to the highest possible point.

In areas with a heightened threat of tsunami, you may see buildings or escape routes marked with the international symbol for tsunami, follow these.

A tsunami evacuation zone sign from Hawaii.

If you are swept up in a turbulent current, your best course of action is to cling to something that floats, such as a door or a tree trunk.

"I was saved by holding onto the roof, but my wife was swept away," said one man who survived the deadly 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Stay vigilant

Do not return to coastal areas until the tsunami threat is declared over by authorities.

Pay close attention to your local alert system -- radio announcements, official websites, social media accounts and emergency cellphone alerts -- and heed the advice.

Tsunamis can last for hours, so use common sense.

During the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the most devastating on record, many people were killed when they returned to the beach to watch the retreating ocean exposing the seafloor.

A rapidly receding ocean is a phenomenon that usually precedes a killer wave, according to NOAA

Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – People walk among the rubble of the tsunami in Hambantota, Sri Lanka in January 2005. The Indian Ocean tsunami struck on 26 December 2004, causing massive destruction along coastal areas of 14 countries, including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia. Hide Caption 1 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Foreign tourists react as the first of six tsunami start to roll towards Hat Rai Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand on December 26, 2004. Hide Caption 2 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Thai medical staff rush a victim of tidal waves to the operating theater at Phuket International Hospital on December 26, 2004. At least 310 people were killed and more than 5,000 injured in southern Thailand. Hide Caption 3 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Foreign tourists look at damage caused by the tsunami in Phuket on December 26, 2004. Hide Caption 4 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – The scene on Phi Phi island in southern Thailand the day after a tidal wave struck on December 26, 2004. Hide Caption 5 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – People walk through debris along the shoreline of Pathong beach of Phuket island, December 27, 2004, a day after the disaster. Hide Caption 6 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – The scene at Marina beach in Chennai, India on December 26, 2004, after tidal waves hit the region. Hide Caption 7 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Aerial view of the destruction at Marina Beach in Chennai on December 26, 2004. Hide Caption 8 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Bystanders watch rescue operations at Marina Beach in Chennai on December 26, 2004. Powerful waves sent this car crashing onto a road barrier. Hide Caption 9 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Residents wade through the trail of destruction along the coastal railway line in the southern town of Lunawa after tsunami tidal waves lashed more than half of Sri Lanka's coastline. Hide Caption 10 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Sri Lankan pedestrians walk through floodwaters in a main street in Galle, after the coastal town was hit by a tidal wave. Hide Caption 11 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – An aerial shot taken from a helicopter shows debris of houses destroyed by the tsunami waves in Galle, Sri Lanka, on December 27, 2004. Hide Caption 12 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Sri Lankan men sort through debris of their destroyed homes in Galle on December 27, 2004. Hide Caption 13 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Sri Lankan health officials and relatives carry the body of a dead man away in Galle on December 27, 2004. Hide Caption 14 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Local residents in Banda Aceh carry away the body of a dead relative the day after the disaster on December 27, 2004. Hide Caption 15 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami 2004 Asian tsunami remembered – Fishing boats and a car are among the debris left along the coast of Langkawi in northwest Malaysia on December 26, 2004. Hide Caption 16 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami Dead fish are strewn across a beach in Penang, a day after an earthquake-triggered tidal waves that lashed the Malaysian coast. In a report published in January 2005, Malaysians were urged to ignore rumors that fish were tainted by feeding on corpses after the disaster. Hide Caption 17 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami Two years later on December 6, 2006, Thai workers carry the body of an unidentified victim of the 2004 tsunami to be buried at Bang Maruan cemetery, in Thailand's southern province of Phang Ng. Thailand buried the last of its unknown victims in a quiet ceremony attended by a handful of officials and Buddhist monks. Hide Caption 18 of 19 Photos: Images: 2004 Asian tsunami Tsunami victim Heru checks his homework inside his family's room at a temporary housing complex in Banda Aceh on December 12, 2006. Two years after the Indian Ocean tsunami wiped out their neighborhoods, many survivors struggled to understand why their homes have not been rebuilt. Hide Caption 19 of 19

The aftermath

Check yourself and others for injuries. Give first aid to people who are injured or trapped as you may now be in an area temporarily inaccessible to emergency assistance.

Do not re-enter buildings until they have been cleared for structural integrity. Tsunami waters, like floodwaters, can undermine a building's foundations and cause floors to crack or walls to collapse.

Bodies, destroyed sewer lines, contaminated freshwater supplies and downed power lines create the biggest health risks long after the tsunami waters recede.

It is always a good idea to be equipped for any disaster with an evacuation plan for you and your family and an emergency preparedness kit