Tsunami Early Warning and Community Preparedness in Indonesia

Lessons learnt from incidents and exercises Harald Spahn Irina Rafliana Henny Dwi Vidiarina Rahmi Yunita

International Conference “Reducing Tsunami Risk in the Western Indian Ocean Muscat-Oman, 22-23 March 2015

Outline • Introduction on review of assessments

• Observations 2007-2014 • Learning from experience

Introduction

The situation • Threat of near-field tsunamis: Warning and evacuation times are 20-40 minutes, or even shorter in some areas. • Quick reaction by both communities and local authorities is vital to saving lives. • Decentralization context requires division of roles.

The interventions • The Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS), official in 2008. • Initiatives to strengthen early warning and preparedness at community level implemented by local, national and international actors • “Tsunami Master Plan” set up by the Indonesian Government under the coordination of NDMO to address gaps observed during the twin earthquakes of 11 April 2012.

Does it work?

• As tsunamis are not happening very often, it is usually hard to know how the established warning chains and other preparedness mechanism really work during a critical incident. • Commonly, drills and exercises are used to test and improve warning and preparedness mechanism.

However, experiences show that things might turn out differently in a real emergency.

Learning from real incidents

Learning from Incidents Major earthquake followed by “No Tsunami threat” message Major earthquake followed by tsunami warning Aceh 2012

Halmahera 2014 Padang 2009

Mentawai 2010 Bengkulu 2007 Cilacap 2011

Kebumen 2014 Bali 2011

… plus two international tsunami exercises (IOWave11 and IOWave14)

Areas of examination

The four elements of people-centered early warning (UNISDR, 2006)

Different incidents mean: - Different emphasis, specific objectives of assessment - Different local authorities involved - Different capacity, associated to previous exposure of capacity development - Different instruments

Different findings and insights… yet some common, repeated issues

Observations 2007-2014

Monitoring and warning service • •

•

Service is provided within 5 minutes. More advanced local OCC are source of feedback to the NTWC on their service. New cases will happen: – Aceh, April 2012: two earthquakes happened closely to each other. – Chile, 2014 EQ: how to respond to far-field tsunami

Dissemination and communication Some local innovations… but very few subnational governments perform their function.

•

Low capacity: – – – – –

• •

Absence of functioning local OCC low familiarity with the warning messages lack of trainings and procedures in place lack of solid SOPs insufficient channels of dissemination

Need for clarity in division of roles at sub-national level Role of media & NDMO needs strengthening

Response capability • • • •

•

Information only did not trigger action. Guidance is necessary. Behaviors vary, but preparedness education helps. Some general rules learnt: never wait for an evacuation order, warning service is complementary Contradictory and false messages are rampant  capacity of local government and role of media are needed Solid evacuation plan, map and signage are imperative

Learning from experience

Once a event has occurred – assess it immediately • Solid and validated assessment tools available can be very helpful – timeliness, – permitting comparability, and – assuring a certain level of quality

• Such tools should be flexible to allow adaptation • A mechanism for on call budget is required.

Some Principles It is important to have: • active involvement of the related stakeholders throughout the entire process; • a joint discussion process, involving all relevant actors, to reflect on the observations and to draw conclusions for improvement; • readiness for professionalism, ethical conduct, as well as openness and transparency.

A joint learning process

Some Assessment Tools different scopes and specific objectives The ITST Post-Tsunami Field Guide (Manual & Guides No. 37)

The Assessment Tool for Tsunami Warning Chains at Local Level developed using Indonesian experience in 2014

Thank You

References GIZ-IS PROTECTS (2011): Tsunami warning on the 4th of April 2011: Institutional and community reactions to the earthquake and related tsunami warnings in southern Java - A Case Study GIZ-IS PROTECTS (2012): The 6.8 RS earthquake south of Bali on the 13 October 2011 - Institutional and community reaction in Bali to the earthquake and related messages from InaTEWS - A Case Study GTZ-IS PROTECTS (2012): Pembelajaran dari gempabumi dan peringatan dini tsunami 11 April 2012 di Aceh, Sumatera Barat dan Kota Padang – A case study GIZ-IS PROTECTS (2014): Gempabumi 6.2 SR di baratdaya Kebumen di 25 Januari 2014 - Reaksi terhadap gempabumi dan informasi gempabumi tanpa potensi tsunami di Selatan Jawa Tengah dan DIY - A Case Study GIZ-PROTECTS (2014): Panduan Asesmen untuk Rantai Peringatan Dini Tsunami di Daerah (Assessment Tool for Tsunami Warning Chains at Local Level) GTZ-IS GITEWS (2007): Early warning experiences in Padang after the first Bengkulu earthquake on 12 September 2007 – Working document 15 GTZ-IS GITEWS (2010): 30 Minutes in the City of Padang: Lessons for Tsunami Preparedness and Early Warning from the Earthquake on September 30, 2009 - Working document 25 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (2011): Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 2011 - an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami warning and communication exercise, 12 October 2011. Volume 1: Exercise Manual and Supplement, IOC Technical Series No. 99, UNESCO. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (2014): Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 2014 - an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami warning and communication exercise, 9-10 September 2014. Volume 1: Exercise Manual and Supplement, IOC Technical Series No. 113, UNESCO. Joint Assessment Report of the inter-institutional Review-Team (2012): Evaluasi sistem peringatan dini tsunami pada kejadian gempabumi dan tsunami Aceh 11 April 2012 – with contributions from BMKG, BNPB, LIPI, BPPT, RISTEK, KKP, GIZ, UNESCO JTIC, UNDP, Syiah Kuala University, Andalas University, Bung Hatta University and KOGAMI Kerpen B, et.al.(2011): International Post Tsunami Survey-Related to October 25th, 2010 Mentawai Tsunami, Report Nr. 716, German Research Centre for Geoscience-GFZ ManadoTerkini.com (2014): Various articles on Halmahera earthquake, published online on 15 November 2014, http://www.manadoterkini.com UNESCO (2008): Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS). 12 September 2007 Indian Ocean Tsunami Event – Post-Event Assessment of IOTWS Performance - IOC Information Series No. 77 UNESCO (2014): International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) Post-Tsunami Survey Field Guide. 2nd Edition. IOC Manuals and Guides No. 37, Paris UNISDR (2006): Developing early warning systems – A Checklist. Borrero JC, Weiss R, Okal EA, Hidayat R, Suranto, Arcas D, Titov VV (2009): The Tsunami of 2007 September 12, Bengkulu Province, Sumatra Indonesia: Post-Tsunami Field Survey and Numerical Modelling, Geophys. J. Int. 189, 180-194, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2008.04058.X Yulianto E, Rafliana I, Aditya V, Febriawati L (2011): Impact of Pre-Disaster Public Awareness Activities on Public Readiness: A Case Study on Mentawai 25 October 2010 Tsunami, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1–17, 2011 www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1/2011/ doi:10.5194/nhess-11-1-2011

Photos Slide 7: • top left and right: author’s documentation • Below left: Indonesian Joint Rapid Assessment 2012, Suharjono, BMKG • Below right: InaTEWS Guidebook, p.24 Slide 8: Indonesian Joint Rapid Assessment 2012, Suharjono, BMKG