BRIN: Technology Plays An Important Role In Reducing Disaster Risk

Screenshot - Head of BRIN's Earth and Maritime Research Organization and RIIG Co-Chair, Ocky Karna Radjasa at the RIIG forum meeting

JAKARTA - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) stated that technology development has an important role to support disaster risk reduction efforts by developing an early warning system.

"The use of technology can help us understand the symptoms of a natural threat," said BRIN's Head of Earth and Maritime Research Organization Ocky Karna Radjasa, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, May 24.

Ocky said technology can be used to monitor the movement of tectonic plates. Monitoring the movement of tectonic plates can provide information on the period of time an earthquake will occur.

Technology can be used to monitor changes in sea level during and after an earthquake occurs, so that it can provide information on tsunami events.

Technology is also useful for monitoring soil saturation conditions in hilly areas, so that it can provide information on potential landslide events.

Ocky said that in addition to increasing public knowledge, disaster risk reduction requires the application of technology to understand natural phenomena that mark an impending disaster. "Because disasters often occur at any time when people are active indoors, on slopes, near the beach," he said.

He said technology is one component of earthquake hazard mitigation efforts to reduce the occurrence of earthquake disasters.

Earthquake mitigation technology can be in the form of earthquake and tsunami monitoring technology, such as seismometers, buoys, fiber optic-based tsunamimeters, and sea level detectors.

This technology is useful for assisting decision making to provide early warning to the public based on observations of earthquake and tsunami symptoms.

Therefore, BRIN continues to develop technologies with the latest advances that are useful for strengthening the disaster early warning system in order to reduce disaster risk.