Sumberjaya Village, Sumur District, Pandeglang Regency, Banten, until Tuesday (12/25/2018) was still in disarray after being hit by the tsunami on Saturday (12/22) night.
Natural disasters have marked the year. Following the Lombok earthquake and Central Sulawesi tsunami and earthquake, we were shocked by the tsunami that struck in the Sunda Strait on Saturday (12/22).
No early warning about the disaster was issued by the responsible agencies. Neither were there any natural warnings like an earthquake, which are known to indicate possibility of a tsunami. The yearend holiday season meant that Anyer Beach and surrounding areas were crowded with holidaymakers.
We mourn the deaths of 429 people (the latest toll on Tuesday, Dec. 25). The alleged cause of the tsunami was the collapse of the southwestern flank of Anak Krakatau, which fell into the Sunda Strait.
Anak Krakatau has seen increased activity since June. It has been on Waspada (alert) status and there have been hundreds of eruptions. Therefore, warnings on the impacts of Anak Krakatau’s eruptions should also include the risk of a tsunami.
The fact that volcanic activity can trigger tsunamis is not new knowledge among volcanologists and disaster risk experts. The massive eruption of Mount Krakatau on Aug. 27, 1883, unleashed a large tsunami, of which there are written records. Thomas Giachetti et al. warned about the possibility of tsunamis from a collapse at Anak Krakatau’s crater in the Special Publications January 2012 issue of the Geological Society (London).
Unfortunately, the government has not been quick enough in providing adequate early warning equipment for detecting tsunamis. The high number of casualties in the Palu disaster was partly due to the absence of an early warning that a tsunami would hit Palu Bay. We still recall the Aceh tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, with its toll of more than 170,000 people in Aceh alone and another 250,000 in 13 countries. We should have learned from that event.
Indonesia’s geography is a given, located in an area where three tectonic plates converge: the Eurasian, Pacific and Indo-Australian plates. It is also on the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped area of volcanoes that spans from the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Australia to the Andes Mountains in South America. This condition requires us to always be on the alert, as we live with frequent tectonic and volcanic earthquakes, as well as tsunamis.
An understanding of disaster readiness must be taught to local communities through formal school education, to the general public through traditional and new media. This includes the potential for another tsunami in the event of another structural collapse at Anak Krakatau.
The public also needs to be made aware so they can participate in maintaining the tsunami early detection buoys that float on the sea. A disaster mitigation budget should be a government priority, in addition to a capacity-building budget for institutions engaged in disaster prevention and management.
It is fitting that we are grateful for Indonesia’s geographical condition, which is blessed with lands and waters full of extraordinary natural wealth. But mastering science and technology is a necessity and we need to increase our cooperation with countries that have similar conditions to Indonesia, but are more advanced in science and technology, such as Japan and the United States, which has Hawaii.
Only by understanding disasters and improving our readiness to prevent casualties can we live without anxiety.
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