Opinion: Padang tests tsunami early warning system
By Dr. Harkunti P. Rahayu and Mizan B. F. Bisri
As part of three years' action research under the PEER Science Scheme, the Bandung Institute of Technology, or ITB, facilitated the implementation of a focus group discussion and a table top exercise in Padang, West Sumatra, on Sept. 1 and 2.
The activities were co-hosted by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Meteorology, Climatology Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Padang Local Disaster Management Agency (BPBD). Around 80 participants were involved, including representatives of agencies of the Padang city government, local nongovernmental organizations, local media and sub-districts' disaster preparedness communities. The exercise focused on the communication chain between the BMKG and BPBD Padang's emergency operation center.
The exercise was of great importance, given that tsunamis have had tremendous destructive impacts on coastal communities in the Asia-Pacific region. Indonesia also has a high frequency of these natural disasters, having recorded 25 massive earthquakes and nine devastating tsunamis between 1990 and 2008 – on average once every two years, including the tsunami that hit Aceh and other parts of Sumatra Island in 2004.
Harkunti P. Rahayu is a lecturer at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), chair of Working Group 1 of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System and vice chair of the Indonesian Disaster Experts Association.
Mizan B. F. Bisri is a doctoral student at Kobe University in Japan and researcher at the ITB.