The Sunda Strait tsunami that occurred on December 22, 2018 then became the world spotlight. These events even triggered world doubts about RI in the aspect of preparedness.
"Indonesia has shown to the whole world a large number of sources that have the potential to cause tsunamis. More research is needed to understand the unexpected events," Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at the University of Southampton, told Reuters by CNBC Indonesia on Sunday (30/12 / 2018).
The incident was assessed by a number of parties as a call to improve research on tsunami triggers and preparedness. Some experts have even traveled directly to Southeast Asian countries to investigate what happened.
Most tsunamis were recorded triggered by earthquakes. But this time the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau caused the crater to partially collapse into the sea at high tide. This gave rise to a 5-meter high wave that hit a dense coastal area on the islands of Java and Sumatra.
During the eruption, it was estimated that 180 million cubic meters or about two thirds of Mount Anak Krakatau, which is less than 100 years old, collapsed into the sea. Unfortunately, the eruption did not shake the seismic monitor significantly.
Thus, the absence of seismic signals that are usually associated with the tsunami caused the BMKG to initially convey via Twitter that there was no tsunami. Muhamad Sadly, Deputy of Geophysics at BMKG, said that the tide monitors were not made to trigger tsunami warnings from non-seismic events.
Separately, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said the lack of an early warning system was the reason why last Saturday's tsunami was not detected. He added that out of 1,000 tsunami sirens needed throughout Indonesia, only 56 were available.
"Signs that the tsunami came were not detected so people did not have time to evacuate," Sutopo said.
The head of the Japan International Disaster Research Institute, Fumihiko Imamura, told Reuters that he did not believe the current Japanese warning system would be able to detect tsunamis like those in the Sunda Strait.
"We still have some of these risks in Japan. There are 111 active volcanoes and low capacity to monitor eruptions that produce tsunamis," he said.
On the other hand, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized the importance of disaster education. "In this country, this is the time for disaster education to be part of the national curriculum," he said.
Even so, so far there is no adequate curriculum. Ramdi Tualfredi, a high school teacher who survived the tsunami last week, such education could not be immediately implemented.
He told Reuters that people in his village of Cigondong on the west coast of Java and close to Gunung Anak Krakatau had never received safety training or evacuation training. "I have never received education about security measures. The system ... really failed," he said.
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