VZCZCXRO9962
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHJS #0070 1981015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171015Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0438
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0427
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0167
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCAA/GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0202
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0449

UNCLAS SURABAYA 000070 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, INR/EAP, AND EB/ESC/IEC 
DOE FOR CUTLER/PI-32 AND NAKANO/P-42 
COMMERCE FOR USDOC 4430 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EPET EINV SENV ELAB ENRG PGOV ASEC ID
SUBJECT: EAST JAVA MUDFLOW UPDATE: HOMES DISAPPEAR IN 10 SECONDS 
 
REF: Surabaya 66 and previous 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Several houses west of the epicenter of the 
Sidoarjo mudflow collapsed into a sinkhole on July 14. 
Approximately 200 houses were damaged, 40 houses heavily.  The 
local Government is assisting with evacuation and compensation, 
but some residents refuse to leave.  Severe and sudden 
subsidence on this scale is unprecedented outside the 
containment area.  BPLS has reportedly warned the government 
that the Porong road, the main link between Surabaya and the 
rest of East Java, should no longer be used.  There is no 
warning system in place should the subsidence suddenly worsen or 
flammable gas levels suddenly rise.  BPLS officials cannot 
predict if a major collapse beneath the Porong road and railway 
will occur.  End Summary 
 
Spreading Impact 
---------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) A sinkhole, swallowing some 20 square meters of land 
and threatening critical infrastructure, appeared in just 
minutes on July 14 in West Siring, a village on the edge of the 
Sidoarjo mudflow. Approximately 200 houses were damaged, 40 
heavily, and 200 residents were forced out of their homes. BPLS 
officials and the USG Geological Hazards Advisor have expressed 
concern about the increased subsidence to the west and north of 
the mudflow's epicenter and the increasing number of geysers 
spraying water and methane into neighboring communities(reftel). 
 
¶3. (SBU) The growing sinkhole is located approximately one 
kilometer west of the mudflow's epicenter and roughly 300 meters 
from critical rail and road links.  As reported reftel, dikes 
inside the containment area have been collapsing throughout 
2008/2009 due to subsidence.  The main dikes are located only 
meters from the Porong road, which carries the bulk of East-West 
road traffic, and Indonesia's active East-West national railway 
link.  The U.S. Geologic Survey and US Army Corps of Engineers 
scientists visited the site in late October 2008 and reported 
that this western dike was particularly vulnerable. 
 
No Warning System 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) BPLS Operations Engineer Handoko told us his agency 
has advised the central government that the Porong road should 
not be used.  However, the new toll road designed to replace it 
is at least a year from completion.  Handoko added that there is 
no system in place to warn local residents should gas levels 
rise or a mass evacuation become necessary due to sudden dike 
breach or subsidence.  BPLS has local gas monitoring stations at 
known gas flares and geysers in the community.  GPS monitoring 
continues around the perimeter of the main containment dikes to 
assess localized subsidence.  There is no way to communicate 
this information to local residents for evacuation, however. 
 
Residents Displaced 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) West Siring residents had thus far escaped the mud, 
which has inundated 11 villages since May 2003.  Nearly 800 
residents refuse to leave the evacuated neighborhood reportedly 
because of concerns about compensation.  A Porong District 
official told displaced West Siring residents they can stay in 
the vacant former district court building until they find new 
homes.  Displaced residents will receive government assistance 
amounting to USD 250 for each family for rent; USD 50 for each 
family's evacuation costs; and USD 30 per person as a six-month 
living allowance. East Java Governor Soekarwo told the East Java 
Parliament that the provincial government would provide houses 
for mudflow victims living outside the impact area map. 
 
MCCLELLAND