Mass relocation planned as seas rise

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Bintan, Riau Islands

The government is preparing to relocate people living on islands considered vulnerable to rising sea levels over the next three decades.

Sea levels are expected to surge drastically between 2030 and 2040 because of global warming. Experts and the government fear that about 2,000 islands across the country will sink.

"We have formed a technical team who will identify the islands which could sink," Maritime and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi told the International Roundtable Meeting of World Ocean Conference here Thursday.

"The government has prepared a contingency plan, which includes relocation of residents off the islands."

Freddy said the islands were located in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua.

He asked the regional governments to keep an eye on the islands.

Indonesia, Freddy said, called on the international community to join forces in anticipating the disaster that would affect the whole world.

"Indonesia will only see small islands disappear, but there will be a country that is at risk of completely sinking due to the rising sea levels. Therefore, all countries must take this issue seriously."

Indonesia has lost about 60 islands in the western part of Sumatra following the tsunami in December 2004, not to mention several others due to mining activities.

Riau Governor Ismeth Abdullah said the sea level increases were the result of global warming and would affect uninhabited islands in the province in the long run. Local fisherman are already feeling the pinch from climate change, he added.

"Climate change has cut the fishermen's income because many fish are now gone," Ismeth said. His administration has promoted mangrove reforestation to deal with the increasing sea levels.

Experts, representatives of regional governments and maritime and fisheries institutes from 13 countries, including from Europe and Southeast Asia, attended the roundtable meeting.

The forum is expected to help formulate the Manado Declaration, which will cap the World Ocean Conference on May 11-15, 2009 in the North Sulawesi capital. The declaration will provide a reference of global maritime development and conservation.

High tide floods coastal subdistrict

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): The combination of a high tide and high rainfall Sunday inundated hundreds of houses in Penjaringan subdistrict, North Jakarta.

Subdistrict head Budi Santoso said his staff had prepared two inflatable boats for possible evacuation, and established a coordinating center with a communal kitchen in the subdistrict offices.

"We estimate that our area will continue to be flooded until Monday," he was quoted as saying by the Tempointeraktif news portal.

Jakarta officials warned last week that high tides in December threatened to flood coastal areas in the city, following an alert from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

The head of the Jakarta Crisis Center, Heru Joko Santoso, said officials were warning that Penjaringan and Pluit subdistricts in North Jakarta would be threatened by high tides between Dec. 8 and 12, and Dec. 20 and 25. -- JP

Seismologists tracking Indonesian quakes get a taste of the real thing

The Jakarta Post

PADANG (AP): American seismologist John Galetzka grabbed his video camera and screamed as the beach trembled violently beneath him. Despite the danger, he was not about to miss what could be the most deadly natural disaster of our time.

"Ooooohh! This is the big one!" whooped the scientist, who plopped down on the sand to film coconuts shaking out of trees as Wednesday's magnitude 7.9 quake hit.

Galetzka has spent nearly a decade studying this fault off Sumatra island - the world's most active - and believes it is ready to explode, leading to a potential repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people. Or even something worse.

Last week's powerful temblor shook four Southeast Asian countries, triggered two massive aftershocks and spawned a 3-meter-high tsunami. It killed 23 people and injured at least 88 more, but it was not the megathrust Galetzka and others have been fearing.

The activity did, however, put even more tension on the so-called Mentawai island patch - a nearly 300-kilometer stretch along the volatile fault - that pops about every 200 years.

It last snapped in 1833, according to research by the California Institute of Technology's Tectonics Observatory, causing a quake of around magnitude 9.0.

"Whether it cuts loose a few minutes from now, or next month, or another 10 or 20 years, that's the big question," said Galetzka, a CalTech research assistant, who was setting up a monitoring station on Siberut island when the quakes hit. "But we are a huge step closer. I think it's just around the corner."

The island is perched directly atop the Mentawai patch, about 150 kilometers off western Sumatra's coast.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The most closely watched fault is the meeting point of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates, which have been pushing against each other for millions of years. The magnitude 9.0 quake that set off the 2004 tsunami was centered along that line, and more than two-thirds of those killed in 12 nations lived in Aceh province, on Sumatra's northern tip.

Last week's quakes were also centered along that fault, but they formed a circle around the Mentawai island section that Galetzka and others worry so much about. That means the pressure continues to build there.

Padang, a low-lying seaside city of 900,000 people, is expected to take the heaviest hit next time a big one strikes, with authorities fearing up to 100,000 will be unable to escape giant waves that could once again surge across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds.

Many people said a public awareness campaign launched after the 2004 tsunami paid off, with warnings issued over mosque speakers and training provided by local officials on how to escape a disaster.

But some complained they received no official warning this time.

"I'm more afraid than ever of a tsunami," said Yurizal, a 31-year-old brick maker from Kota Agung village who felt the strong tremor but heard no warnings after. "We need sirens or something before it's too late."

Govt warns of high waves, eruptions in coming weeks

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government warned Thursday of the possibility that natural disasters could strike in several of the country's regions in the coming weeks.

Senior government officials have asked the Indonesian people to brace for potential volcanic eruptions and huge waves expected to pound numerous coastal regions.

Speaking after a limited Cabinet meeting, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that at least 12 volcanoes were active throughout the country, while Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal cautioned that huge waves, in excess of six meters in height, could persist until August.

Purnomo said the danger rating of 10 volcanoes is on the third highest level and that they require close monitoring. They are Talang in West Sumatra, Minor Krakatau in Lampung, Merapi in Yogyakarta, Semeru and Bromo in East Java, Batutara in East Nusa Tenggara, Karang Etan and Lokon in North Sulawesi and Dukono and Ibu in North Maluku.

Soputan in North Sulawesi is at "beware" status, the second highest danger level, while Gamkonora in North Maluku is at the highest alert status.

The heightened activities of Gamkonora prompted the evacuation of 13,000 people after the volcano began spewing ash and debris over the past few days.

On Thursday, the government also issued a warning for high waves.

Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) chairwomen Sri Woro Budiharti Haryono attributed the high waves to tropical cyclone Man Yi that will likely shroud several regions in the country.

Sri Woro said waves of between three and six meters in height will likely crash against the Eastern shores of the country near the Seram, Aru and Arafuru seas, the Fak Fak and Merauke coasts and most of Maluku.

On Wednesday, passenger ship KM Wahai Star, plying the Buru Island-Ambon route and carrying 60 passengers, sank in Pulau Tiga Isle. High waves were blamed for the incident.

Ships of all types are barred from travel when waves reach between three and six meters, Sri Woro said.

Waves of between two and three meters will likely pound coasts facing the Indonesian Ocean south of Java, waters off Masalembo and the Sulawesi Sea, she said, adding that sea transportation during periods when waves reach such heights is considered dangerous.

The government also warned of the possibility of flooding and forest fires in the coming months.

After hearing presentations about the possible disasters, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered relevant agencies to implement disaster mitigation procedures.

Yudhoyono asked the BMG to keep the public updated on weather occurrences and information that could serve as an early warning for disasters.

"The President also paid special attention to information on the heightened activities of volcanoes. He wants the BMG to coordinate with governors and regents throughout the country about disseminating the information," Purnomo said.