INDONESIA - RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI, EARTHQUAKE WARNINGS

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001290 SIPDIS SIPDIS AIDAC DEPT FOR S/ES-O DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EB/IFD/ODF DEPT FOR OES/FO, OES/IET/ETC/OA/EGC, OES/OA DEPT FOR A/MED, IO AND INR/GGI/HIU USDA FAS WASHDC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TPHY AORC EAID AMGT CASC ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA - RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI, EARTHQUAKE WARNINGS REF: State 54475 ¶1. Per reftel, Embassy Jakarta provides the following responses to listed questions. ¶2. Question: Does a duty officer of Mission Disaster Relief Officer (and alternate MDRO) receive tsunami and earthquake warnings on a 24-hour basis from the Ops Center or other service? --Response: Yes, the State Department Operations Center contacts Embassy Duty Officer about any earthquake with a magnitude greater than Richter Scale 6.5. Additionally, the Government of Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (BMG) sends earthquake warnings to the Mission Disaster Response Officer alternate on a 24-hour basis, via text message, e-mail and fax within 5-10 minutes after the event. The warnings are communicated in the national Indonesian language but the technical nature of the message makes it readily understood by a lay person with little or no knowledge of the language. The message contains the magnitude of the earthquake in Richter Scale, date, time, nature of the event, location coordinates (longitude/latitude) and the depth of the earthquake's epicenter, area and province. The message will provide tsunami threat possibility when appropriate. Finally, the Consular and Economic Sections have signed up for the USGS earthquake warning alert system, and receive warnings by e-mail from the USGS within 10-30 minutes of an earthquake. The USGS information, which is sent in English, provides critical information regarding the distance from the earthquake's epicenter to major population areas in Indonesia. ¶3. Question: How does the Embassy respond to the information that it receives from the warning notification? --Response: The U.S. Mission in Indonesia has an action/response plan in place. The Mission Disaster Relief Officer Alternate at the USAID Mission Jakarta receives these warnings on a 24-hour basis and forwards the information to the Mission Disaster Relief Officer and Duty Officer. If the magnitude is small (under 6.0),the MDRO and Duty Officer do not take further action; if the magnitude is larger than 6.0, then the MDRO initiates contact with the Office of US Foreign Disaster (OFDA) Regional Advisor in Bangkok, local officials and provides information on initial assessment to the Embassy Front Office, USAID Mission Director, Regional Security Officer, Management Officer and Consul General (or their deputies). Additionally, if an earthquake of a significant magnitude is close to a major Indonesian population center, the Consular Section immediately contacts American citizens in the impacted area to determine if any are in need of assistance and to gauge the level of damage to areas with significant expatriate populations. ¶4. Is there additional information that could be supplied with the warning that would improve the ability of the Embassy to respond/react? --Response: Yes. It would be helpful to receive any available estimates on the possible areas to be impacted by the event. HEFFERN