Tsunami Emergency Management Systems - Case Study Example

CRISIS MANAGEMENT Tsunami Emergency Management Systems INTRODUCTION On December 26, 2004, a strong earthquake occurred beneath the Indian Ocean near Sumatra and the Andaman Island in Indonesia. The earthquake formed a large transoceanic tsunami that devastated the Coast of Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea (Strand & Masek 2008, p.346). Since people in the coastal areas were not warned about the inbound tsunami, they were caught unaware when the tsunami strikes. In Indonesia, more than 127, 000 people died while 116, 000 or more were missing. The economic damage to Indonesia was estimated to exceed thirteen billion dollars (Baura 2006, p.181). Clearly, if a tsunami warning system was in place in the Indian Ocean, deaths and other significant losses could have been reduced. The following section discusses the tsunami incident and the recent recommendations made to avoid re-occurrence of such disastrous event. These will include discussions about tsunami emergency management systems being applied and practiced today. Finally, the report will give its recommendations on how government and local communities can effectively prepare for similar devastating event. BACKGROUND OF THE TSUNAMI INCIDENT A large tsunami tidal wave severely smashed the provinces of Aceh and Northern Sumatra in Indonesia on December 26, 2004 (Hoffmeister et al. 2006, p.75). This Indian Ocean born tsunami was a natural disaster of unimaginable magnitude that was triggered by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 in the Richter scale off the Sumatran west coast. This earthquake started a series of tsunamis that reached some parts of Asia and Africa. In Indonesia for instance, the tsunami struck just after 20 minutes after the strong earthquake triggered it. Some of the most affected by the tsunami were Indonesia, Southern India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Myanmar. The tsunami that reached the Indonesian coastline and penetrated seven kilometres inland killed more than a hundred thousand people and deprived over 1.4 million of the livelihood. Many farmers lost their tools and equipment, and livestock. More than 50,000 hectares of crops were damaged and some agricultural land was swallowed by the sea. Moreover, the coastal area’s water reservoirs, irrigation, drainage facilities were also destroyed. The after effects of the tsunami include health and nutrition problems, communicable diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and malaria due to the large number of displaced persons, flooding, and crowded conditions (Semba & Bloem 2008, p.730). The tragedy in Indonesia in December of 2004 where a significant number of people died and properties lost could have been avoided if the tsunami had been noticed earlier. According to Barlett (2007, p.170), the earthquake that caused the tsunami was detected earlier but the actual tsunami was not. Although there have been reports that the International Tsunami Information Centre or ITIC in Hawaii did send some messages to inform countries in the Pacific and Indian Ocean region, there was no existing system to immediately inform the people at the coasts (Semba & Bloem 2008, p.722). Alerting people on time about possible danger save lives and there are number of instances particularly in the Pacific that lives were saved because people were warned. Unlike the Pacific, the Indian Ocean has no official tsunami warning system. This is because tsunami occurrence is more frequent in the Pacific while tsunami in the Indian Ocean is very rare. In fact, the last major tsunami occurrence was in the late 1800s when Krakatau erupted. This is probably the reason why any proposal for a tsunami warning system exclusively for the Indian Ocean would not pass the benefit and cost analysis before 2004. This traditional attitude of perceived ‘rarity’ according Haddow et al. (2008, p.217) often the reason why tsunami hazard planning has been neglected and many individuals and communities are not tsunami aware. The tsunami incident of 2004 opened up a way for reconsidering this attitude towards a more resilient stand on the possibility of tsunami anywhere in the world. The incident also revealed the not only exposed the importance of a tsunami warning system in the region but the need for effective tsunami emergency management system. TSUNAMI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS THE INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM The high death rate caused by tsunami is generally blamed on the absence of an effective warning system and the killer tsunami that stroked Indonesia in 2004 is a reminder that a warning system for the Indian Ocean is desperately required. As a temporary solution, UNESCO initiated the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System under the ICG/IOTWS, a group that would serve as a regional body to coordinate and ensure its implementation. The move was to give the Indian Ocean region a temporary warning system through the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and Japan Meteorological Agency. These centres are expected to provide tsunami warnings to Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, and other nations through Tsunami Warning Focal Points that would advisory information based on data gathered by the Pacific and Japan warning centres (Orbicom 2007, p.33). In the affected region, after the 2004 tsunami devastated some unprepared countries around the Indian Ocean, various proposals for a tsunami warning system came up. The aim of this proposed warning system is to constantly monitor the movement of the ocean’s surface and give real-time data to enable fast and reliable warning to be sent to several parts of the world. The warning system in mind has three important elements – the scientific instrumentation, the communication system, and the warning system. At present, there are two active tsunami warning system in place around the Indian Ocean. The first one is the DART or the Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The second one, which is still in its trial run, is the GITEWS or the German and Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning Systems. DART was originally developed for the Pacific Ocean while the GITEWS is intended for the Indian Ocean alone. The U.S. was also proposing a third tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean but it is still under consideration (Gad-el-Hak 2008, p.283). The difference between DART and GITEWS is that the later is more complex and capable of monitoring seismic activity, water pressure, sea level, and meteorological data while the former only measures fluctuation of the sea level. DART however, has the ability to measure deep ocean tsunami energy directly and more likely to withstand earthquake damage. However, although there may be difference in data and data gathering technique, a warning system often involves detection, data transmission, and communication. These important phases of a warning system exist in both DART and GITEWS. For instance, data generated by DART transmit data to GOES or Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. The data is then combined with other seismographic and oceanographic data and will be analysed to determine whether there is a need to issue a warning or not. If there is enough reason to issue a warning, the centre then communicates and warns the population about a possible tsunami. The local warning centres would then broadcast the warning so that people can prepare or immediately leave the coastal area. In Indonesia for instance, these warnings can be transmitted locally via loudspeakers installed in mosques, by television or radio (OECD 2006, p.260). A tsunami warning system exclusively for the Indian Ocean according to OECD (2006, p.260) is currently operational. The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System or IOTWS was developed and put into operation since September 2007 (ESCAP 2008, p.46). The system uses an exclusive channel of disaster management and was designed to provide real time data to local warning centres. The warning system use buoys, regional seismographs, and satellite communication. The requirements of Indonesia are different from the requirements of the Pacific Ocean, as the warning system for this region must handle near-field tsunamis. Unlike the Pacific Tsunami Warning System where tsunamis can be detected hours before it hit the coast, the Indonesian warning system must be able to detect and assess the potential for tsunami in a short time. For instance, the operators of IOTWS must be able to send warning or important information about a possible tsunami in 5 minutes after detection (Konecny et al. 2010, p.237). It is therefore necessary that this warning message reach their destinations on time and clearly understand by people that will be affected by incoming tsunami otherwise it will be too late for them evacuate. CURRENT STAGE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM After 2004, a network of tsunami warning system was set up in Indonesia but it is only limited to some parts of the coastline. According to ESCAP (2008, p. 43), there are still many vulnerable areas that are not covered by the warning system and some of those that were deployed are suffering from technical problems. For instance, On June 4, 2007, a tsunami warning system sent a false alarm in Banda Aceh spreading panic and chaos to a number of still traumatized residents. A number of traffic accidents were reported and many people were injured because of confusion and lack of systematic evacuation plan. Clearly, the emergency management system in the region is still ripe for a major catastrophe. The false alarm is a manifestation of the early warning system’s ineffectiveness while the panic and chaos are indications of unpreparedness. One problem noticed during the false alarm incident according to ENCAP (2008, p.44) is the lack of responsible agency that would disseminate the information because different contradictory information are being disseminated through the media .In general there are still a lot work to be done in terms of tsunami emergency management in Indonesia. PREPARING FOR A TSUNAMI EVENT In preparing for a tsunami event, it may be best for government and local communities to start by educating themselves in the nature into the nature earthquake and tsunamis. According to Haddow et al. (2008, p.217), a tsunami awareness campaign should include educating key decision makers, people that will manage the emergencies, and the public who will be affected by the hazard. As discussed earlier, it is not enough for a community to have a warning system in place because emergency management systems also involve preparation for the event such as evacuation and recovery plan. The Indonesian leadership must be committed not only in establishing an effective emergency response but must be ready to act appropriately during the recovery process. Primarily, they must clearly determine the duties and responsibilities of each agency involve avoiding major delays in the delivery of services. It is clear that tsunami is an inevitable force of nature thus warning and recovery planning must go together. It is also very important to educate the communities and develop knowledge and skills. The government and local leaders must determined educational issues among the public. For instance, the things that people should know about tsunamis and what are the methods that will be most effective in educating the public (Yalciner 2003, p.269). It is important to educate the public in order for them to take tsunami warnings seriously and act accordingly (Pugh 2004, p.155). Similarly, tsunami warnings are only effective if a certain local population is willing to cooperate and follow the authority’s instructions (California Seismic Safety Commission 2005, p.11). To avoid confusion and misinformation, the government must ensure that disseminations agencies effectively educating the public and developing measures that could reduce loss of life and damage to property. The agencies that will be created by government must also create an emergency plan for all vulnerable localities. For instance, clearly defining the possible inundation areas, safe evacuation routes, and the minimum time required to send a warning to ensure safe evacuation (Pararas-Carayanis 2001, p.253). In other parts of the world, public awareness programs often promotes readiness and active collaboration among the local emergency management agencies and the public. For instance, the government may create minimum standard guidelines for the public to adhere to and be consistent with the distribution of education materials to communities in the coastal regions (Haddow et al. 2008, p.217). In an emergency management system, communicating to the public is critical and requires efficiency. These include risk communication where agencies have to alert and educate the public effectively about the danger they will encounter and how they can prepare and reduce the impact of such event. More importantly, it also includes delivering an accurate warning message on time so that there is more time for the public to evacuate. Communication is therefore a very important part of the emergency management system that the government should give equal consideration (Bullock & Haddow 2006, p.409). Like detection and data transmission, communication plays a very important role in a tsunami warning system because without it, people will never be aware. In summary, the government, emergency managers, and leaders of local communities must educate themselves and the public. They must work together and ensure that the current tsunami emergency management system can effectively detect tsunami, transmit information to local warning centres, and warn the public. Moreover, they must ensure that the public is well knowledgeable of the danger of tsunami and appropriate actions they should take when such event occurs. Finally, since tsunamis are not preventable, they should a recovery plan in place. CONCLUSION The tsunami that struck Indonesia in December of 2004 is a natural disaster that was triggered by a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. The tsunami destroyed properties, livestock, and killed more than a hundred thousand people. Although occurrence of tsunami is natural and cannot be avoided, many people could have been saved if they were warned that a tsunami would strike their area. The Indian Ocean has no tsunami warning system at the time due to perceived rare occurrence of such disastrous force of nature. After the devastating tsunami incident in 2004, government and communities realised the importance of an effective tsunami emergency management system that would detect, transmit, warn, and reduced the impact of tsunami in coastal areas of the Indian Ocean. UNESCO initiated a temporary solution through coordinated effort between IOTWS and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre. In practice, tsunami emergency management system being implemented in the region still need some more improvement particularly delivering warning messages and coordination between local emergency managers. Moreover, the public needs more knowledge about the process in order to ensure compliance to warning messages and evacuation plans. In preparing for a tsunami event, the government, emergency managers, and local communities must get familiar with the nature of tsunami and best practices in emergency management. Aside from effectively implementing a tsunami warning system, they must plan for an effective evacuation and recovery procedure. More importantly, they must determine and clarify the duties and responsibilities of all people that would be involve in the emergency response to avoid significant delays in the delivery of essential services. The coastal community in particular should have knowledge and skills in this type of emergency because tsunami warning is only effective if the population is willing to cooperate. In the same way, the government and emergency managers should establish good communication with the public to ensure that the public takes appropriate actions during the emergency. 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