Tsunami warning system put to the test

Sirens have blared, parents grabbed their children and hundreds ran to emergency shelters in Indonesia as countries bordering the Indian Ocean conducted a test today of a warning system set up after the devastating 2004 tsunami.

Planned for 18 countries, the United Nations said the drill was intended to simulate a tsunami similar to the one sparked by the 9.2 magnitude quake off Indonesia in 2004.

That quake generated waves that eradicated entire coastal communities, killing some 230,000 people in one of the worst natural disasters of modern times.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), said the drill was the first comprehensive test and evaluation of the warning system put in place after the 2004 disaster.

At least one survivor from 2004 was too paralysed by memories of the killer wave to take part in mock evacuations.

“What is this all for? My chest has gone tight and I am shaking,” said Hamiyah, a 58-year-old mother who lost her in-laws, four children and five grandchildren, as the drill kicked off in Aceh, Indonesia.

“When the siren sounded, I immediately thought of my child, grabbed her and ran,” said Bakhtiar, 50, who lives in the village of Gampong Pie, along the Indonesian coastline in Aceh province.

In Aceh’s Ulee Lheue village, which was all but wiped out by the disaster five years ago, about 200 residents gathered at a mosque after an explosion was sounded from loudspeakers that was meant to signal an earthquake.

Around 10n minutes later a siren blared out, starting the drill.

But Hamiyah refused to take part, breaking down and staying at home, rebuilt after the disaster, with her two surviving children.

“It reminds me of the past and makes me really sad. Please stop reminding us,” she said, sobbing, as people ran for quake-proof emergency shelters, some carrying the “wounded”, as a voice over mosque loudspeakers urged people not to panic.

“We want to send the message to the world that we continue to improve our disaster mitigation skills,” said Aceh Vice Governor Muhammad Nazar.

Dubbed Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 09, the drill was the first comprehensive test and evaluation of the warning system put in place after the 2004 disaster, said UNESCO.

It comes two weeks after a tsunami smashed into the Pacific islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, killing at least 183 people.

In Thailand, where more than 5,000 Thais and foreign tourists perished, no evacuation drill was planned but its National Disaster Warning Centre was responding to the dummy telegrams, faxes and e-mails being sent out by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

But in Sri Lanka’s southern coastal village of Godawaya, a tsunami warning tower failed to emit a siren. Local fishermen who had stayed home to take part waited for a few hours and decided to go to work.

Later, officials manning the tower went around the village announcing a “tsunami threat” through loudspeakers and calling on residents to quickly move to a Buddhist temple on higher ground. Women who were at home gathered at the temple.

UNESCO said today’s exercise would allow Indian Ocean countries to test their communications, review their emergency procedures and identify any weaknesses.