Indonesia Government to launch integrated disaster early warning system

The Government is preparing an integrated disaster early warning system to be implemented in various institutions. National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) secretary Dody Ruswandi said that early warning systems were running separately in each institutions, such as the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency and the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center.

"[The integrated disaster early warning system] is necessary because we have such a big country," Dody said during the World Tsunami Awareness Day event held in Jakarta on Thursday, December 15, 2016.

The integrated system, Dody added, would improve the efficiency of disaster information. In addition, the integration of the system is mandated by the law. 

Dody explained that the integration of the system would not cause early warning systems already used in each institution. The integrated system is called multihazard early warning system. With the current technological development, information on disasters could be accessed from a smartphone. 

Data from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) shows that there is an increasing trend in economic losses due to natural disasters over the last 40 years. In early 1970, economic losses inflicted by natural disasters in Asia-Pacific were less than US$50 billion. About 40 years later, during a massive earthquake in Japan in 2011, the economic losses stood at US$200 billion.