President Floats Merging Geological Agency with BMKG
President Prabowo Subianto plans to merge the Geological Agency with the BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency) following a series of natural disasters that have struck much of Indonesia.
The announcement was made during a limited virtual meeting held by the president alongside several other institutions, including the Home Affairs Minister, the Health Ministry, BNPB, the National Police Chief and regional governments.
“I think the head of the Geological Agency will later work more closely with the others; we will consider whether the Geological Agency should be integrated with the BMKG. But, yes, we will discuss that later,” Prabowo said at the limited virtual meeting on Monday (7/9).
Meanwhile, BMKG Head Teuku Faisal outlined his presentation on the Notice to Mariners document, stating that there is a prohibition on vessel movements within a 3-kilometre radius of the active crater of Mount Anak Krakatau.
He said the prohibition was imposed after the Geological Agency declared alert level 3, or “siaga” (standby), for the Mount Anak Krakatau area.
In his presentation, the BMKG said it not only coordinates with the Geological Agency but also works with BNPB, particularly in handling the extinguishing of forest and land fires.
BMKG and BNPB coordinated on weather modification operations that were planned to be carried out at Husein Sastranegara Airport before it was eventually closed.
The coordination was carried out to prevent damage to aircraft engines, reduced visibility, disruption to navigation and aircraft sensors, as well as route changes and delays in handling.
Natural disasters have occurred in Indonesia in quick succession. In November 2025, flash floods struck several provincial regions in Sumatra, such as Aceh, West Sumatra and North Sumatra.
Around the same time, hydrometeorological disasters also hit several areas in Java and as far as Sulawesi. These disasters included floods and landslides up to the end of the 2026 rainy season.
Entering the dry season, extreme drought swept across several provinces. Then came the magnitude-7 earthquake in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, which killed hundreds of people and destroyed infrastructure.
Most recently, forest and land fires have occurred widely, especially in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java and Papua. Before the fires were over, Mount Sinabung and Mount Anak Krakatau erupted.