Govt sets up tsunami early warning system

JAKARTA: Following the Dec. 26 tsunami in Aceh and North Sumatra, the government is setting up a tsunami early warning system it claims will be able to predict incoming killer waves only five minutes after an initial earthquake.

The system would be supported by 10 regional centers and would be integrated by a national center that would further disseminate a real-time warning to areas across the Indian and Pacific Ocean, said Wendy Aritonang, of the science application division of the Office of the State Minister for Research and Technology.

The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG) will cooperate with other institutions equipped with better seismographic and maritime equipment, such as the Coordinating Body for Survey and National Charting Development Board (Bakorsurtanal), port operator PT Pelindo, the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT).

The establishment of the system, which would include observation of earthquakes, sea level and tsunami simulation, would be assisted by Norway, Germany and China. --Antara