Ateng Sutisna Urges Government to Strengthen Preparedness for Anak Krakatau Eruption

The ash from Anak Krakatau has spread far beyond the volcano, and Indonesian lawmaker Ateng Sutisna says that should force the government to strengthen disaster preparedness before conditions worsen.

The volcano remained at Level III, or Alert, as of September 6. Indonesia’s Geological Agency recorded a continuing eruptive episode that began at 11:07 p.m. local time on September 4. The activity included what appeared to be lava fountains, lava flows and rumbling or explosive sounds. The episode lasted about 25 hours and ended on Saturday night, but the alert status remained in place.

People, tourists, fishermen and others remain barred from entering a three-kilometer radius around the volcano. On September 6, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency identified two clusters of volcanic ash spreading across areas of Banten, Jakarta, West Java and parts of Sumatra. The ash also disrupted aviation operations.

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The government must not once again arrive late after victims have fallen. The time has come to prove that the state can act during the warning phase, not only during the emergency response phase.

Ateng said the situation should serve as a test for coordination across sectors, including volcano monitoring, tsunami mitigation, public health protection, aviation and shipping safety, and the readiness of local governments around the Sunda Strait. “The government must not once again arrive late after victims have fallen. The time has come to prove that the state can act during the warning phase, not only during the emergency response phase,” he said.

He also urged the public not to conclude that the eruption meant a tsunami was imminent. BMKG monitoring of 20 tsunami gauges around the Sunda Strait had shown no sea-level anomalies through Sunday morning, while HF Radar analysis at Carita and Tanjung Lesung placed the tsunami probability at a low level during the observation. Ateng stressed that those results described conditions at the time of observation and should not weaken preparedness. “Science cannot determine the day and hour when a larger eruption will occur. But uncertainty is not a reason to wait,” he said, calling for monitoring of seismicity, ground deformation and morphological changes, as well as checks on sea sensors, sirens and evacuation routes.

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Science cannot determine the day and hour when a larger eruption will occur. But uncertainty is not a reason to wait.