RI SURVIVES JAPAN'S TSUNAMI THREAT

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 11 (ANTARA) - After having about eight hours of panic and tense, villagers in the coastal areas of North Sulawesi, North Maluku and Papua provinces, took a deep breath of relief as the devastating tsunami in Japan  did not reach their areas.          The towering tsunami which crippled north-east of Japan, did not reach their areas until the deadline set by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) at 6 pm western Indonesia Time (WIB) had passed on Friday evening.          "Based on procedures, the tsunami warning is lifted if one hour after the deadline is passed. Now that we have passed one hour of the deadline, the BMKG is now withdrawing its tsunami warning and declared that all areas in Indonesia are secure from the threat," BMKG Chief Sri Woro B Harijono said in an interview with TVone station Saturday evening.          The BMKG has earlier issued a warning that Japan's tsunami may reach the eastern part of Indonesia, particularly North Sulawesi, North Maluku and Papua provinces following a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale which took place about 373 km from the national capital of Tokyo and triggered a giant  tsunami.         "The tsunami was first expected to reach Indonesia at 6 pm WIB or  8 pm Central Indonesia Time (WIT)," BMKG head Sri Woro B Harijono told ANTARA on Friday noon. She said it would likely hit Papua, North Maluku and North Sulawesi.          Following the warning, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono called for the evacuation of people living in the  coastal areas in Indonesia's northeast.          He  said a tsunami would possibly sweep West Papua, Papua, North Maluku and North Sulawesi provinces and areas around them.  People in the regions have to be on  heightened  alert.          "They must all be prepared, especially those living in Indonesia's eastern regions," he said.  Agung therefore called for the evacuation of people living in coastal areas in Indonesia's northeast. "If necessary, we will evacuate people in coastal areas to higher ground immediately." he said.          The minister also asked the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in the regions concerned to be ready for  eventualities.          He called on the people to remain calm and not to panic but to be ready for eventualities.          Chairman of the BNPB's Data and Information Center Sutopo Purwo Nugroho also believed that waves from the tsunami in Japan may reach  West Papua, Papua, North Maluku, and North Sulawesi on Friday at around 6 pm Western Indonesian Standard Time.          "BNPB has asked for assistance from the regional authorities, the Indonesian military (TNI) and the Police to inform the public living in coastal areas so they can be on alert," he said.          An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours. Reports put the territories of Guam, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Micronesia and Hawaii under a lower tsunami watch.          In the meantime, reports of Japan's earthquake with its subsequent tsunami which until Friday had killed at least 23 people, caused panic among people living in North Maluku, North Sulawesi and Papua.          Residents of Tobelo city, North Halmahera district, North Maluku province, rushed to higher areas upon hearing the information on possible tsunami to hit the province.          "We fled to Kupa Kupa which is higher than our area. We live in a coastal area so that we rushed to a higher land area when we heard the BMKG warning through television,"  Jopi Soselissa of Tobelo said.          BMKG chief for Ambon, capital of Maluku, Irwan Slamet said his side gave priority to residents living in areas that sit on a fault in North Maluku, which was a meeting point of the Euroasia and Pacific plates.          "We are intensively monitoring the impact of Japan's quake and its subsequent tsunami though we predict that Maluku would not be affected by the tsunami waves,"  he said.          In North Sulawesi, local residents were also panicked to hear the news that a tsunami due to an earthquake in Japan could sweep their areas. Civil servants at the North Sulawesi regional government office burst out of their office as soon as they learned the news.          Some of them contacted their families at home and asked them to avoid Manado (capital of North Sulawesi)'s coastal areas. Some others came to pick their family members to evacuate.          "My family live in the coastal area so that I go home to pick them up and ask them to evacuate to a safer place," said Steven, a civil servant working at the North Sulawesi regional government office.          Star Wowor, who is North Sulawesi regional government secretary, also contacted his family soon to avoid staying in the coastal areas. The same is also true to those in the shopping centers. They burst out of the shops and sought for higher fields as soon as they heard the news about tsunami.          In Papua, most of people living around the Wafnor beach, Biak Kota, in Biak Numfor district, also fled their homes to seek secure places. Some residents admitted they were panicked when they heard the BMKG tsunami warning that the waves would likely reach their village at 8 pm WIT.          "My family members were evacuated to higher places to avoid the tsunami waves as warned by the BMKG," Launsi, who lived in Wafnor coastal area, said.      (T.A014/A/H-NG/A/S012) March 11, 2011