Training in Seismic and Tsunami Hazards: Preparing Indonesia for Their Next Event

The US Geological Survey (USGS) collaborated with the German GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) and the Badan Meteorlogi & Geofisika (BMG) of Indonesia to deliver two 3-week training program in "Seismology, Data Analysis and Tsunami Warnings" to scientists involved in tsunami warnings in Indonesia. The courses were held in Jakarta from January 29 – February 18, 2007 and from January 21 - February 8, 2008. Roughly thirty participants attended each training, with the USGS conducting the seismology component of the courses. Such training has long been a critical aspect of programs to develop an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS). The effects of the 2004 tsunami made obvious the need for a network of seismic instruments, good communications systems, and technically advanced warning centers to effectively mitigate against another such disaster. Our training programs have focused on each of these areas to both improve current capacity, but also to enable sustainability of these efforts. A secondary component of the training courses was on methods to facilitate interagency coordination and to share seismic and oceanic data among participating countries. The training in Indonesia was tailored to meet national needs. Indonesia is located immediately adjacent to the Sumatra trench and thus has a high level of local seismicity and a relatively short lead time for tsunami warnings. For this reason an overview of basic geophysical and seismological principles (e.g. seismology, tide gauge and GPS analysis, tsunami modeling) was presented along with the processes of detecting hazardous events and communicating those hazards through advanced warning systems.