The Status Of Mount Anak Krakatau Rises To Alert Level, BRIN Reminds Residents To Beware Of Potential Tsunamis

Residents are active on the beach when the waves hit the Labuan Bay area, Pandeglang, Banten (Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Head of the Hydrodynamic Technology Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Widjo Kongko appealed to the public to be aware of the potential for a tsunami due to the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau.

The tsunami expert said, based on data and observations from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) of the Geological Agency, there was an increase in the activity of Mount Anak Krakatau from Alert or Level 2 to Alert or Level 3.

"This shows the potential for an eruption and could potentially cause a tsunami," he said through the official BRIN website in Jakarta, Antara, Friday, May 13.

To estimate the size of the impact of the tsunami, he said it depends on the trigger source, namely how large the eruptive activity of Mount Anak Krakatau and the volume of the caldera avalanche or the lava spewed out.

According to him, the results of the tsunami modeling study that have been carried out for the late 2018 eruption event can be used as a reference for future tsunami potentials if there is an eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, especially predicting the tsunami arrival time on the coast and the estimated height.

Widjo said the government had made efforts to create a tsunami mitigation program from upstream to downstream. For example, at the upstream level there is an early warning system in case of a tsunami and information dissemination to improve community preparedness.

At the downstream level, evacuation routes, evacuation shelters and evacuation planning guidelines have been prepared. Even so, tsunami victims are still there as happened in the Sunda Strait at the end of 2018.

This, he said, shows that the existing tsunami mitigation program is not sufficient, so it needs to be improved in the future.

"I think the public also needs to get detailed information related to the potential tsunami threat in the location where they live and of course other information related to evacuation routes and temporary evacuation sites," said Widjo.