Indonesia Reflects on 20 Years Since the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Urges ASEAN to be More Resilient

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) hopes that the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that hit several countries 20 years ago will inspire ASEAN member countries to be more disaster-resilient.

BNPB Head Suharyanto said that reflecting on the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami, cooperation and solidarity between countries are important assets in efforts to create resilience against similar potential in the future.

"Through cooperation between countries, we can build a more resilient region, which is not only ready to face disasters, but also able to rise stronger afterwards," he said as a speaker at the Global Forum for Sustainable Resilience (GFSR) 2024 and the Asia Disaster Management and Civil Protection Expo, and Conference (ADEXCO) exhibition at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, Wednesday (11/9).

He explained that the international forum, attended by delegates from 10 ASEAN countries and involving practitioners, disaster business actors, and global scientists, prepared various aspects of disaster resilience.

For example, he said, the provision of accurate, integrated earthquake and tsunami detection system innovation technology would support efforts to build community skills and sustainable regional development governance.

The December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami were felt and caused great damage in 14 countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Asia, and East Africa.

History records that the event resulted in more than 227 thousand people dead, more than 45 thousand people missing, and tens of thousands injured.

A number of scientists assessed that limited access to disaster information and the absence of an adequate earthquake and tsunami detection system contributed to the magnitude of the impact at that time.

Responding to these conditions, he said that the history of past disasters has encouraged Indonesia to continue improving technological sophistication and combining it with the local wisdom of the community to mitigate disaster risks.

The technology in question is a sensor-based early warning system (EWS) and the Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS), which is controlled by BNPB together with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

"We need to ensure that if the tragedy happens again, we are ready and resilient to face it and also able to build a safer future," he said.

Similar sentiments were also expressed on the same occasion by the Chairman of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management and the National Director of the Brunei Darussalam State Disaster Management Center, Colonel (Rtd) Muhd Harrith Rashidi Bin Haji Muhd Jamin.

He said ASEAN countries would continue to learn from past disasters to improve disaster management systems.

In fact, he encouraged forums such as GFSR and ADEXCO to produce a better regional disaster mitigation roadmap, one of which concerns the utilization of an integrated early warning system.

ANTARA

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