There is an increasing trend of social economic losses in "natural" disasters due to the rising number of natural hazard incidents together with the increasingly vulnerable population in Indonesia. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) jointly with Leuven Catholic University's Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) reported recently that 2008 showed an increase in the number of deaths and economic losses compared to the 2000-2007 yearly average. The recent 7.2-magnitude earthquake (S.R.) in the Talaud Islands regency in North Sulawesi, that caused hundreds of injuries and damage to 500 buildings according to the national media, show one important lesson. The people not only live in a vulnerable environment in regard to housing and infrastructure but also lack the infrastructure to react quickly to the warning...