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GITEWS-Warning Centre in Jakarta. Photo: GITEWS
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Transfer of Ownership of the Tsunami Early Warning System GITEWS to Indonesia
The development of a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean through Helmholtz Centres by order of the German Federal Government was launched immediately after the natural disaster of December 2004. The tsunami's impact caught people in this area completely off guard and claimed altogether around a quarter million lives with over 170,000 deaths in Indonesia alone. An early warning could have saved many people.
The system went into operation already in November 2008. GITEWS was subsequently optimized in joint cooperation by Indonesian and German institutions and since then the reliability of the early warning system has been successfully demonstrated numerous times. At the end of March, on behalf of the German Federal Government, Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Rachel (BMBF) transferred the ownership of the tsunami early warning system GITEWS to Indonesia.
"The early warning system is now completely in Indonesian responsibility. That does not mean that we will withdraw from the system. Germany continues to support the operation, in particular with the sustainable education and training of the warning centre operator BMKG", explained Prof. Dr Reinhard Hüttl, chairman of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences within the Helmholtz Association, which headed the development. Besides the technical structure, scientists, disaster management, administration and population have to be trained to know what to do in case of a strong earthquake and a tsunami and what preventive measures can be taken.
The recent earthquake tragedy in Japan demonstrates how prevention and training measures can minimise harm even during major disasters. For a sustainable success of the early warning system in Indonesia, this so-called capacity development will need to be developed further. Specifically for GITEWS, the sequence of events beginning with a tsunami warning and ending with the evacuation of a coastal area were acted out in three test regions (Padang, Sumatra; Cilacap, South Java; Kuta / Sanur, Bali). Independent of this, Indonesia's seismological service developed alarm plans for the entire country. "Together with the newly established Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management BNPB, the procedures developed in the test regions will be carried nationwide in cooperation with LIPI, the Indonesian Academy of Sciences" adds the GITEWS project coordinator and GFZ scientist Dr Jörn Lauterjung.
