Indonesia eyes quick tsunami warning by end 2006<\/p>\n
Dean Yates and Achmad Sukarsono
\nReuters\/Jakarta
\n
\nIndonesia hopes to have an early warning system able to issue
\ntsunami alerts within five minutes on quake-prone Sumatra by the
\nend of next year, and an integrated network covering the country
\nby 2010, a senior official said.<\/p>\n
Wendy Aritenang, a deputy minister at the Research and
\nTechnology Department who is overseeing development of the
\nsystem, said on Thursday that initial equipment costs had been
\nput at $120 million under a detailed plan for the project.<\/p>\n
But Aritenang said even the most sophisticated system might
\nnot have helped much when a huge tsunami smashed into Aceh on
\nDec. 26, killing up to 160,000 people, because the 9.0 magnitude
\nearthquake that triggered it was too close to the coastline.<\/p>\n
For now, Aritenang said officials from various agencies and
\nresearch bodies were focusing first on Sumatra's coast.<\/p>\n
"It probably won't be five minutes but our goal is that. It
\ndepends on the funding, whether it comes down on schedule,
\nwhether contributions are realized," he said in an interview.<\/p>\n
"Of course, we have to start with cities which are more
\nvulnerable to the hazard. My guess is at the end of next year, we
\ncan have quite an effective early warning system. The buoys will
\nbe there, the real-time tide gauges will be there."<\/p>\n
Aritenang denied Indonesia had been slow to draw up plans for
\nthe tsunami early warning system, saying the media had shown
\nlittle interest in what his agency was doing.<\/p>\n
Germany has signed an agreement to help Indonesia while Japan
\nand China are also expected to provide aid, he said.<\/p>\n
Documents covering the five-year plan and given to Reuters
\ncall for upgraded equipment for measuring quakes and detecting
\ntsunamis, with analysis of the information before it is sent out
\nto communities via text messages and other means.<\/p>\n
Buoys with sensors on the ocean floor, tide gauges,
\nseismographs, global positioning system monitors and high-tech
\nvessels will all feed information into 10 regional offices with a
\nnational center in Jakarta staffed around the clock.<\/p>\n
The documents show any quake above magnitude 7 would trigger a
\nwarning from the Meteorological and Geophysical Agency. Data
\nwould be studied to see if it could spark a tsunami, and a
\ndecision made about whether to issue an alert -- all within five
\nminutes.<\/p>\n
Aritenang said virtually the entire country, which lies along
\nthe "Pacific Ring of Fire" where plate boundaries intersect, was
\nprone to tsunamis.<\/p>\n
Indeed, including the Dec 26. waves off Sumatra, five of the
\nsix most deadly tsunamis in the last 25 years have been focused
\non the world's largest archipelago, the documents showed.<\/p>\n
Underscoring Indonesia's seismic status, during the interview,
\nAritenang received a mobile phone text message from the
\ngeophysical agency about a 6.8 magnitude quake off Sumatra on
\nThursday morning.<\/p>\n
There were no reports of casualties, just panic.<\/p>\n
"Look, I just received some quake information," he said.<\/p>\n
"But we would like to have more effective alarm information,
\nincluding whether people should evacuate or not and how they
\nevacuate. That's still a long way to go," Aritenang said.<\/p>\n
The five-year plan calls for increased public awareness, the
\nteaching in schools about tsunamis, evacuation drills, the
\nstockpiling of vital supplies, escape routes for major population
\ncenters and city areas designated safe.<\/p>\n
One hurdle was people tended to panic, Aritenang said,
\nespecially since images of the death and destruction from Aceh
\nprovince were imprinted on every Indonesian's mind.<\/p>\n
He cited Padang, a city of around one million people on
\nSumatra, which was recently jolted by a large quake.<\/p>\n
"They didn't need the early warning system because the shake
\nalerted them. They just ran to the hills and the city became
\nblocked. They needed more than two hours to get to the hills."<\/p>",
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