Tsunami alert on track<\/p>\n
The violent earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island
\nof Sumatra late on Monday night -- and the panic it sparked in
\nThailand and other countries around the Indian Ocean rim -- was a
\ngrim reminder that tsunamis, one of the world's most devastating
\nnatural disasters, could strike at any time.<\/p>\n
Although the earthquake off Indonesia's west coast showed that
\nnot every forceful instance of seismic activity in the sea
\nproduces a tsunami, the successful early warning and subsequent
\nevacuation were a good exercise, allowing us to gauge the
\npreparedness to respond to disasters.<\/p>\n
The government must take a balanced approach to the country's
\nnatural disaster preparedness, taking into consideration all
\nrisks based on the probability of their happening -- not on the
\namount of public fear that a particular disaster might happen.<\/p>\n
Above all, the costly lessons learned on Dec. 26 should
\nconvince the government that managing our country's preparedness
\nto deal with disasters should be left to professionals who are
\nfree to exercise their professional judgement without fear or
\nfavor, or intervention from politicians.<\/p>\n
It is always far better to err on the side of caution.
\n-- The Nation, Bangkok<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tsunami-alert-on-track-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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