Wasti Atmodjo and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb., The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Padang
The scenario is frightening: a huge earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale hits Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, at 9:15 a.m. Thousands of people run screaming from Sindhu beach in the Sanur resort area.
Five minutes later, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) issues a tsunami warning. The quake's epicenter is said to be 10 km under the sea.
When the warning comes, people are fleeing coastal areas to higher ground as tidal waves five to six meters high close in. Within 30 minutes, the waves have flooded most of Denpasar.
This disaster in Bali is not real. It was part of a tsunami drill held Tuesday to mark the two-year anniversary of the devastating waves that killed tens of thousands of people in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra.
A similar drill was held in Padang, West Sumatra. More than 5,000 students in Padangpariaman regency's nine villages scrambled from their classrooms to higher ground as soon a tsunami warning siren wailed.
The students then practiced helping injured 'victims'. The drill was organized by the Tsunami Alert community and Mercy Corps Indonesia through the Interagency Working Group and the regency administration. More than 36,000 of the regency's residents live in coastal areas.
"The drill in Bali is the most comprehensive tsunami drill held in the country since the real tsunami hit Aceh and North Sumatra on the same day two years ago," said Harkunti Pertiwi Rahayu, the chair of the tsunami prevention program and a tsunami expert at the Bandung Institute of Technology.
Numerous smaller drills have been carried out in tsunami-prone areas, he added.
The drill in Bali was jointly organized by the state ministries of technology and environment, the tourism ministry, the BMG, educational institutions and other partners. It involved at least 14,000 Denpasar students ranging from elementary to high school, as well as the tourism industry, local communities and local officials.
State Minister of Research and Technology Koesmayanto said the drill was a key step in preparing people to cope with disasters.
Bali is one of the world's top vacation destinations and one of the areas of the country most vulnerable to earthquakes. The island has two active volcanoes and was hit by a huge earthquake and volcanic eruption in the early 1960s.
Koesmayanto said the government has installed tsunami early warning systems in several provinces, with the newest system able to send an alert within just six to eight minutes.
The tsunami early warning system includes seismographs and buoys. Since 2005, the government has added 70 seismographs in the western part of the country. By 2008, there will be 160. In Bali, six buoys have been installed in Kuta, Sanur and Nusa Dua.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said the government is also establishing tsunami escape buildings. Each will be constructed on 500 square meters of land at least five meters above sea level, and will be able to accommodate at least 400 people.
The buildings will be located at Nusa Dua resort in Bali and Pangandaran Beach in West Java.
Source: The Jakarta Post
