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At first sign of trouble, don't wait on tsunami warning. Just run to higher ground: BMKG
Maluku is home to at least five possible tectonic quake epicenters consisting of the Maluku Ocean Plate Subduction Zone, North Seram Subduction Zone, South Seram Fracture Zone, Banda and Weber Deep Subduction Zone and Aru Graben Zone.
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A fisherman collects his net in Pantoloan, North Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday. Palu’s economy is steadily recovering following the earthquakes and tsunami. (ANTARA/Mohamad Hamzah)
M
eteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) chairwoman Dwikorita Karnawati told people in Maluku that when an earthquake strikes, do not wait for the BMKG's tsunami warning.
Just run to higher ground, she said at the launch of a Sekolah Lapang Gempabumi (SLG) (disaster mitigation school) in Ambon, Maluku, on Monday.
“Based on our calculations, there is a very narrow evacuation window period during an earthquake. We’ve even been able to predict that, in certain areas, a tsunami could possibly strike as soon as two minutes after the quake,” she said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Dwikorita called on the public to start evacuating on their own as soon as an earthquake hit the region, saying that waiting for an early tsunami warning from the BMKG or the local administration could prove to be disastrous. She added that it usually took five minutes for an early tsunami warning to be issued, whereas the available evacuation window period was less than that.
“For people living on the coast, if you feel a strong quake immediately run to higher ground such as hills or even sturdy buildings. Waiting for an early tsunami warning is very risky,” Dwikorita said.
The BMKG has been under scrutiny after it revoked a tsunami warning in Central Sulawesi following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake. After it was revoked on social media on Sept. 28 last year, an actual tsunami swept Palu's coastline. The disasters killed more than 2,100 people while about 5,000 were reported missing. Later, the BMKG explained that it had revoked the warning after the tsunami had receded in Palu.
To bolster disaster mitigation across the archipelago, the BMKG has established SLGs in various disaster-prone regions, including Maluku.
