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