VZCZCXRO8310
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1290 1280345
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080345Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4631
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0510
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0729
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4077
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1289
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0934
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001290 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
DEPT FOR S/ES-O 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EB/IFD/ODF 
DEPT FOR OES/FO, OES/IET/ETC/OA/EGC, OES/OA 
DEPT FOR A/MED, IO AND INR/GGI/HIU 
USDA FAS WASHDC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TPHY AORC EAID AMGT CASC ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA - RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI, EARTHQUAKE WARNINGS 
 
REF: State 54475 
 
¶1. Per reftel, Embassy Jakarta provides the following responses to 
listed questions. 
 
¶2.  Question: Does a duty officer of Mission Disaster Relief Officer 
(and alternate MDRO) receive tsunami and earthquake warnings on a 
24-hour basis from the Ops Center or other service? 
 
--Response:  Yes, the State Department Operations Center contacts 
Embassy Duty Officer about any earthquake with a magnitude greater 
than Richter Scale 6.5. Additionally, the Government of Indonesia's 
Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (BMG) sends earthquake 
warnings to the Mission Disaster Response Officer alternate on a 
24-hour basis, via text message, e-mail and fax within 5-10 minutes 
after the event.  The warnings are communicated in the national 
Indonesian language but the technical nature of the message makes it 
readily understood by a lay person with little or no knowledge of 
the language.  The message contains the magnitude of the earthquake 
in Richter Scale, date, time, nature of the event, location 
coordinates (longitude/latitude) and the depth of the earthquake's 
epicenter, area and province.  The message will provide tsunami 
threat possibility when appropriate.  Finally, the Consular and 
Economic Sections have signed up for the USGS earthquake warning 
alert system, and receive warnings by e-mail from the USGS within 
10-30 minutes of an earthquake. The USGS information, which is sent 
in English, provides critical information regarding the distance 
from the earthquake's epicenter to major population areas in 
Indonesia. 
 
¶3. Question: How does the Embassy respond to the information that it 
receives from the warning notification? 
 
--Response:  The U.S. Mission in Indonesia has an action/response 
plan in place.  The Mission Disaster Relief Officer Alternate at the 
USAID Mission Jakarta receives these warnings on a 24-hour basis and 
forwards the information to the Mission Disaster Relief Officer and 
Duty Officer.  If the magnitude is small (under 6.0), the MDRO and 
Duty Officer do not take further action; if the magnitude is larger 
than 6.0, then the MDRO initiates contact with the Office of US 
Foreign Disaster (OFDA) Regional Advisor in Bangkok, local officials 
and provides information on initial assessment to the Embassy Front 
Office, USAID Mission Director, Regional Security Officer, 
Management Officer and Consul General (or their deputies). 
Additionally, if an earthquake of a significant magnitude is close 
to a major Indonesian population center, the Consular Section 
immediately contacts American citizens in the impacted area to 
determine if any are in need of assistance and to gauge the level of 
damage to areas with significant expatriate populations. 
 
¶4. Is there additional information that could be supplied with the 
warning that would improve the ability of the Embassy to 
respond/react? 
 
--Response: Yes.  It would be helpful to receive any available 
estimates on the possible areas to be impacted by the event. 
 
 
HEFFERN