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stablishing a stronger early warning system is critical due to expected increases in countries’ vulnerabilities to natural hazards in the future, a senior geophysics official says.

Prih Harjadi, the deputy director for geophysics at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said on Thursday that more accurate early warnings played a key role in anticipating risks as many areas, including areas in Indonesia, were prone to disaster.

“With more accurate early warnings, we can avoid severe impacts from natural hazards, such the tsunami occurred in 2004,” Prih said in a discussion on a tsunami early warning system held during the visit of UNESCO chief Irina Bokova to the BMKG’s headquarters in Jakarta.

The discussion was also attended by UNESCO Indonesia representative Hubert Gijzen and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and famed Indonesian actress Christine Hakim.

Prih said that Indonesia had 80,000 kilometers of coastal areas and more than 50 percent of the areas were tsunami-prone areas.

“During the period between 1991 and 2011, Indonesia experienced 33 earthquakes, or more than one a year,” he said.

There were 14 tsunamis in the same period, including tsunamis in Flores (1992); Java (1994); Biak, Papua (1996) and Aceh (2004), when more than 200,000 people were killed.

The Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS) was inaugurated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Nov. 11, 2008, to reduce disaster risks by delivering more accurate early warnings.

The system was established with support from other countries, such as China, French, Germany, Japan, and the US and from UNESCO.

“The system can issue a tsunami warning within five minutes of an earthquake,” BMKG chairwoman Sri Woro B. Harijono said.

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences received support from UNESCO’s tsunami information center for building disaster awareness, preparedness and education programs in schools and communities, she said.

Indonesia has issued 11 early warning since the system was established, such as the warning issued following the Solomon Islands earthquake on Jan. 3, 2010, which resulted in a 3-meter tsunami and for the Mentawai Islands tsunami in April 2010.

Information on potential tsunamis is collated by the National Coordinating Agency for Land Survey and Mapping (Bakosurtanal) along with data from buoys managed by the Assessment and Application of Technology Agency (BPPT) and equipment managed by the BMKG, before being passed to media.