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Today's Headlines Natural Disasters
The Sileri Crater at Dieng Plateau, a popular tourist destination in Indonesia's Central Java province, erupted unexpectedly on Sunday (02/07), leading to dozens of injured people as well as panic among tourists and local residents. The area is now closed to all people, while authorities have been evacuating tourists and local residents.
Heavy rains during the rainy season - in combination with insufficient drainage infrastructure - caused massive flooding across Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that there are 54 areas in Jakarta, mostly in the eastern part of the city, that were flooded on Tuesday (21/02). At some locations in East Jakarta's Cipinang Melayu the water level was even as high as 150 centimeters.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said the year 2016 was the worst year over the past 14 years in terms of natural disasters in Indonesia. A total of 2,342 natural disasters, including landslides, floods, storms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, were counted by the agency, up 35.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) from 1,732 natural disasters in the preceding year.
At least 100 people were killed in a 6.4-magnitude (undersea) earthquake in Aceh (Sumatra) at 05:03 am local time on Wednesday morning (07/12). Besides casualties, local media report that numerous houses and buildings have been destroyed. The epicenter of the quake was centered about ten kilometers north of Reuleut (northern Aceh) and is believed to occurred at a depth of 17.2 kilometers. There is no potential for a tsunami according to Indonesia's Climate, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
Reportedly 389 tourists are "missing", believed to be trapped in the area around Mount Rinjani in East Lombok. On Tuesday afternoon (27/09) the 3.7 kilometers high Mount Barujari, located close to Mount Rinjani, erupted. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said authorities are doing their best to locate these tourists, find out their condition and evacuate them. Indonesian authorities have already evacuated more than 1,000 people (mostly foreign and domestic tourists) from the area.
The "haze season" is back in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. Forest fires in Riau (Sumatra) are the main cause of smoke that has been carried to Singapore and Malaysia over the weekend. But also fires in West and Central Kalimantan have caused local haze. Hundreds of firefighters and military personnel were deployed to combat forest fires in Riau where 162 hotspots were counted over the past couple of days. Indonesian farmers' (illegal) slash-and-burn practices (aimed at clearing land) are the cause, while dry and hot weather exacerbate the situation.
A massive earthquake off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra occurred on Wednesday evening (02/03) in the Indian Ocean. The latest news reports claim the earthquake had a 7.8 magnitude. Its epicenter was around 800 kilometers southwest of Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra. Indonesian authorities quickly issued a tsunami alert. Reportedly, it was a shallow quake, about 10 kilometers deep (shallow earthquakes are more likely to cause damage than deep ones).
The ongoing forest fires on parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, brought about by people's slash-and-burn practices to clear land for palm oil and paper industries, are now labelled a crime against humanity by global media while Indonesia has turned into the world's largest daily carbon dioxide emissions surpassing China and the USA. The severe haze that has been plaguing parts of Southeast Asia brings health problems, economic costs and bad publicity amid a time when most countries are teaming up to combat global warming.
Again schools were ordered to shut (for at least two days) in Malaysia in order to protect children from inhaling smog as the air quality remains at very unhealthy levels (nearly hazardous in some regions). The air pollutant index still shows readings of between 201 to 300 in six districts around Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The haze, which - reportedly - may become the worst haze ever, is caused by companies' and people's illegal slash-and-burn practices to clear land for planting on parts of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. The situation is exacerbated by the (El Nino-related) prolonged dry season.
While Malaysian authorities ordered more schools to close on Monday, schools in Singapore reopened on the first day of the week as the air quality improved. However, although having improved, the air quality in Singapore remains unhealthy. The pollutant standards index in Singapore was 161 (meaning unhealthy) around 11 am local Singapore time on Monday (improving from a ‘hazardous’ reading of 341 last Friday). Meanwhile, Singapore mentioned five companies as having contributed to the forest fires that are causing the severe haze in Southeast Asia.
Latest Columns Natural Disasters
After the devastating 6.9 and 7.4-magnitude earthquakes in Lombok and Central Sulawesi in August and September, local people and businessmen have again been made aware of the risks involved when living, working and investing in Indonesia, a country that is located on the notorious Ring of Fire. This Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, a center of seismic activity - triggered by tectonic movements - and thus prone to frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
While residents on the island of Lombok were still in the process of recovering from the deadly earthquakes in late July 2018, the area was again hit by a series of devastating earthquakes in August.
In full-year 2017 a total of 2,341 natural disasters occurred in Indonesia according to the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (in Indonesian: Badan Koordinasi Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana, or BNPB). Natural disasters include landslides, floods, storms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
A year ago - between June and October 2015 - severe man-made forest fires on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan released some 11.3 million tons of carbon per day, caused Indonesia to experience damages estimated at 1.9 percent of GDP (World Bank estimate), and spread toxic haze to other parts of Southeast Asia. Not only its regional neighbors but most of the world directed its anger at Indonesian authorities that failed to combat the fires, and more importantly, failed to uphold laws that forbid the slash-and-burn practice.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is increasingly convinced that the world needs to prepare for a new El Niño cycle. According to the institution, the impact of this new cycle will be felt starting from July 2014 and may continue through the winter. Also the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and the US Climate Prediction Center stated that chances of a new El Niño cycle in 2014 are becoming higher, although it is too early to provide an indication of this year's strength of the weather phenomenon.
After the Mount Sinabung volcano (located in North Sumatra) has been erupting continously since September 2013 leading to 17 casualties and tens of thousands of evacuees, another Indonesian volcano - Mount Kelud (in East Java) - erupted around 22:50 West Indonesian Time on Thursday evening (13/02). Only hours prior to the eruption, the alert status of Mount Kelud was raised by the National Volcanology Agency. There have been six confirmed deaths. Volcanic ash and rocks have been thrown over a wide distance.
Whenever the topic of tourism in Indonesia is touched upon, most people will instantly think of Bali. This small but famous island harbors all sorts of entertainment that will appeal to various segments of international tourism: beautiful landscapes, Balinese Hinduism, lively nightclubs, beaches and more. But apart from Bali - and despite the fact that Indonesia has much to offer on other islands - the country has disappointed in attracting a large amount of foreign tourists so far.
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