JICA-JST Indonesia Multi-disciplinary Hazard Reduction fromEarthquakes and Volcanoes in Indonesia

Field Survey of Tsunami Stricken Areas in theMentawai Islands:
focusing on policy aspects
Atsushi Koresawa
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)

5th– 10th November, 2010

Mentawai Islands Tsunami Survey
Members of Mission
Group1‐2 Yuichi Nishimura, Purna Putra (Hokkaido Univ.), Eko Yulianto (LIPI)Group 1‐6 Kenji Satake (Tokyo Univ.), Haris Sunendar (ITB)
Group 3‐1 Megumi Sugimoto (Tokyo Univ.), Mulyo Harris Pradono (BPPT)Group 6 Atsushi Koresawa (ADRC), Pariatmono (RISTEK)
Objectives
Group1‐2, 1‐6 focus on: Tsunami inundation height and areas, Tsunami deposits
Groups 3, 6 focus on: Interview to refugees and local government officials on
immediate response, early warning, education, etc.
Time line
3 Nov.
Narita, Japan – Jakarta, Indonesia
4 Nov.
Visit at LIPI, Jakarta ‐ Padang
5‐10 Nov. Survey on Mentawai Islands by ship
10 Nov.
Padang – Jakarta, Presentation to RISTEK, UNESCO, Media

Mentawai Tsunami Survey

Mentawai Tsunami Survey
10 Nov.

5 Nov.

Tumalei 4‐6 mSikakap

Macaroni Resort 3‐5 m
Sabeuguggung 4‐7 m
Muntei 5‐8 m

Purorougat 6‐9 m
Maonai 6‐7 m

Summary Table
Kecamatan

DesaDusun

Tsunami heights

Pagai Utara

SilabuTumalei

6.1, 5.5, 5.2, 4.7,4.0

199

5Macaronis
resort5.4, 4.9, 4.8, 3.8
3.0, 2.9 (watermark)~20visitors

1

Sabeu Guggung 7.0, 5.8, 5.0, 4.3

258

121

Muntei7.8, 5.7, 5.1, 4.6,4.6, 4.6, 4.6

314

114

Muntei coast

8.8, 6.8, 4.5, 3.9

Purorougat

5.5 (flow depth)

23572Lakau

2.50

Asahan6.4, 6.6, 9.30

Maonai6.9, 6.8, 6.7, 6.3

Metumonga

Pagai Selatan Malakopak
BulasatPop139

Casu
alty35

Dusun Sikakap in Desa Sikakap(6 Nov. 2010)
Sikakap in North Pagai functions as acenter for disaster response:c.f. the capital of Kabupaten Kepulauan
Mentawai is Tua Pejat in Sipola Island;Most of supply of emergency items aredelivered from Sikakap by small boats orhelicopters to many scattered small villages;
Kabupaten has established its command
center in the building belonging to Desa:
West Sumatra Province’s BPPT also has
dispatched its response team there.

Dusun Sikakap in Desa Sikakap(6 Nov. 2010)

Dusun Sikakap in Desa Sikakap(6 Nov. 2010)

Dusun Purourougat in Desa Malakopak(6 Nov. 2010)
We tried to reach Dusun Purourougat in
Desa Malakopak (72 people out of 235
died), but it was not easily accessible onsurface.
Purourougat was totally flattened, nohouse remaining. People there tried toescape to the surrounding hills, but quite
many of them did not manage to escape.
When we were in Purourougat,
Indonesian Media Group’s helicopter justlanded and delivered some delivered
emergency supplies by showing their flag.
Now, the villagers stay in refuge camps
on hills quite faraway from the village.

Dusun Maonai in Desa Bulasat (7 Nov. 2010)

Maonai

3 °11.549’S
100 °20.665’E

Tsunami heights
6. 9 m, 6.8 m, 6.7 m, 6.3 m

DUSUN SABEU GUNGGUNG in DESA
BETUMONGA (8 Nov. 2010)
Fredi, 23 years old man in yellow shirt, told hisstory.
He felt two earthquakes but they were not sostrong. Thus, he kept watching TV because theearthquake was felt weaker than the previous
earthquake in 2007 that did not cause tsunami
to this village.
So he did not expect that tsunami might
happen. But, when he saw the running text on
TV, he started running away. By that time, it
was too late. He got drawn in water andbecame unconscious.
He lost many relatives. He told that he would
not like to come back to this village because ofmass graves there. Now, he is waiting for a
new house to be built by government on thehills.

Macaroni Resort (9 Nov. 2010)
It must have been a quiet and beautiful
paradise for foreign tourists. It still is quiet.
There were very few casualties. At thetime of Tsunami, approx. 20 tourists were at
the bar in this main building. They managed
to escape Tsunami by going upstairs.
Only one person who stayed in a cottage
got injury and transferred to Sikakap. Later,
he/she passed away.
This clearly proved the effectiveness of(multi-story) evacuation building in suchhigh risk areas.

Dusun Tumarei in Desa Silabu (9 Nov. 2010)
Tumarei was totally flattened byTsunami. Surprisingly, only 5 out of 199
villagers died because they managed toescape Tsunami by climbing up hills justbehind the village.
They also received some tsunami
training beforehand which provided byIndonesian and Australian groups.
Moreover, based on training they received,
the villagers formed different disaster
preparedness/response teams andcontinued exercises/drills.
 Eventually, both topographicalconditions and their preparedness proved
to be effective to save lives in this village.
They receive sufficient food and waterfrom NGOs, but such items as cooking
stoves, oil, clothes, cigarettes are missing.

Tumalei

Tsunami heights
5.2 m
4.0 m
(on this tree)
Other trees
6.1 m
5.5 m
4.7 m

Dusun Tumarei in Desa Silabu (9 Nov. 2010)
On the hills, there are temporally
shelters along narrow, steep and muddy
lanes. They build these huts on their own.
It was very difficult to walk up/downeven without any load. Villages have towalk up and down many times every day.
It is quite tough.
Furthermore, their living conditions areharsh. Of course, basic needs are not met.
They just wait for government to rebuild
their houses on the hills. A question is
how soon it will be materialized. Theirliving is likely to continue to be very hardin coming months.

Points of Consideration (1/2)
Remote areas such as Mentawai Islands are particularly difficult forhumanitarian support to be reached: Indeed, many NGOs have left there
without carrying out their tasks because of lack of transportation means;Relocation of high risk communities on the coast to safer higher grounds isdesirable, but given its large number, it may be very difficult or take much time
to be fully implemented for all high risks areas; Therefore, while relocation is promoted, it is imperative to secure
evacuation routes and evacuation buildings in high risk areas as a matter ofurgency: Evacuation routes are effective if they can help people quickly run up
to nearby higher ground: Moreover, evacuation buildings are also effective incase there is no such higher ground nearby (for all these, risk assessment ofcoastal villages is a first step);Some kind of warning system is necessary, and they can be facilitated bymaking use of ordinary means, such as TV, radio, etc.
To use those facilities effectively, awareness raising activities, disastereducation and disaster preparedness should be further enhanced;

Points of Consideration (2/2)
It may be the case that currently operating NGOs may terminate its
activities in coming weeks. Early recovery of not only housing but also
livelihood is required, but how soon can it be materialized?
Disaster victims are currently in extremely harsh living conditions, and thus
massive mobilization of government’s resources should be expedited together
with support by international and bilateral organizations; In highly disaster prone countries like Indonesia, some kind of risk sharing
scheme may be necessary, which cannot be run on a commercial basis: thus,
government’s intervention is necessary;
The capacity of disaster management agencies at various levels, fromnational to local levels as well as community groups should be further
strengthened: it should cover not only disaster response phase but also
mitigation, preparedness, and early- and long-term recovery phases.