Attachments
This bulletin is issued for information only and reflects the current situation and details available at this time. The Indonesian Red Cross – Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI), with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), are continuing to monitor and respond to the situation with local and national resources. If required, additional financial resources will be sought via the relevant IFRC international disaster response mechanism.
The situation
The National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) and the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG) reported that high tide/tsunami hit Carita Beach in Banten Province, and hit the coast around the Sunda Strait, especially in Pandenglang, South Lampung and Serang districts on 22 December 2018 at 21:27hrs.
The event is recorded four times in four different locations with height of 30-90 cm. According to the official update by the Indonesian Disaster Management Authority, the fatalities are increasing and the released the below mentioned statistics. The highest wave hit Serang sub-district at 21.27h local time with the height of 90 cm.
BMKG issued high-tide warning before the tsunami struck, however, this warning is not for tsunami early warning nor related to Mount Krakatoa activity. Approximately 5,000 persons were initially evacuated to Lampung Governor’s office; most of them are now back to their houses. Pandeglang is the worst affected area with most number of deaths, injured persons and damaged houses and properties. With reports of people getting back to their homes, the initial risk of population movement is reduced as most of them went back to their homes. Settlements and tourist sites on Tanjung Lesung Beach, Sumur Beach, Teluk Lada Beach, Panimbang Beach, and Carita Beach were severely affected. Being the tourist season, there were huge number of tourists present in the coastal area of Pandeglang, one of the worst affected areas when the event struck.
Assessments are in progress to estimate the damages, need analysis. The number of casualties might increase as some of the interior areas are being accessed now.
Response by the provincial disaster management agency (BPBD)
BPBD together with the military, police, the national search and rescue agency (Basarnas), local government office, Ministry of Social Welfare Volunteers (Tagana), Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), volunteers and the community are providing emergency response support to the affected people. Heavy equipment have been deployed for debris clearance. The government has also deployed field kitchen, field clinic and evacuation post.
Government has not yet declared emergency status or released response structure yet, currently it’s being locally coordinated along with the establishment of command post, field kitchen and displacement site. Heavy equipment was dispatched to clear debris to ease evacuation and response.
The initial prediction on the cause could be that of a possible underwater landslide due to the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau combined with higher than usual tides due to the full moon. The causes of this event are being investigated by BMKG (Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics), BNPB (Indonesian Disaster Management Authority) and PVMBG (Centre of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation). This Government has issued a warning of no activity along the coastal area.
Immediate needs
Based on initial information from secondary sources as well as from PMI teams on the ground, immediate needs include evacuation and management of injuries, medical and health services including referral services, food and non-food items and evacuation sites