Another tsunami slammed into coastal areas of Indonesia killing at least 222 people and more than 800 injured after a wall of water surged over the shoreline on the Sunda Strait on Saturday night. This is all is a result of an unpredictable chain of events and an inadequate early warning system combined. Aid groups say the death toll is expected to rise further, with many of those swept away unaware of the impending danger despite the violent eruption of the Anak Krakatau – or "Child of Krakatoa" – volcano on Friday.
Considering that Indonesia is located as one of the most disaster prone country, it is critical to have system that would help. In a series of tweets later deleted with a stricken apology, the national disaster agency had stated there was "no tsunami threat" even as the wave crashed over parts of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java.
"The lack of an early warning system is why the tsunami was not detected," acknowledged disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Furthermore, he said that because the signs were not detected, therefore people unable to evacuate.
Efforts to improve systems have been beset by problems, from a failure to properly maintain new equipment to bureaucratic bickering. Experts say Saturday's disaster was most likely caused by a moderate eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait that triggered either a large and very fast-moving flow of molten rock into the sea or a sudden and massive submarine landslide.
Professor David Rothery, a professor of planetary geosciences at Britain's Open University, noted that a blanket deployment of buoys would still have a limited warning impact if the tsunami was generated close to the shore.
"Even if there had been such a buoy right next to Anak Krakatau, this is so close to the affected shorelines that warning time would have been minimal, given the high speeds at which tsunami waves travel," Prof Rothery said.
Source: straitstimes.com, 9news.com.au. Image: Kompas/RIZA FATHONI