English intro | Tsunami & quake report | English text
Pictures & video
Urgent Appeal | Compensation and Recovery plan for victims

Menteri Pertahanan Malaysia dan Pengarah Bencana Negara (National Disaster Task) - Najib TELAH GAGAL MEMBUAT TINDAKAN AMARAN & EVAKUASI BAGI MENGHADAPI ANCAMAN TSUNAMI selepas gegaran gempa bumi berlaku di Lembah Kelang - 4 jam kemudian ombak tsunami melanda Utara dan 65 orang maut. Rumah, kereta, bot nelayan banyak yang musnah.
Setakat Rabu 29 Disember, 65 orang disahkan maut dan 9 lagi yang hilang, 183 cedera (Pulau Pinang 48, Kedah 11, Perak 3, Selangor 1, Thailand 2).
Najib & Kerajaan Malaysia kena jawab pertanyaan ini - adakah anda langsung tidak mempunyai Pelan Tindakan Kecemasan menghadapi bencana alam sebegini - atau adakah anda tidak tahu, atau sengaja tidak ambil peduli - KEMUNGKINAN BERLAKU TSUNAMI susulan gempa bumi berskala Richter 9.0 yang dapat dirasai di Lembah Kelang pada pagi tersebut?

Malah kami mula mempunyai prasangka: adakah kerajaan Malaysia tidak mempunyai polisi pembangunan dan pelan tindakan kecemasan yang konkrit jika ditakdirkan berlaku gempa bumi LEBIH DAHSYAT di darat yang mampu memusnahkan bangunan dan bandar-bandar di Malaysia? Sebagaimana kerajaan Malaysia tidak pernah ada pelan tindakan menghadapi banjir kilat yang cekap sehinggalah berlaku banjir besar di Kuala Lumpur dalam tahun 2004 dan sesudah itu barulah hendak sibuk membina terowong (SMART tunnel system)?


Ahad 26 Disember 2004
Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 7:58:49 AM - Waktu gegaran dikesan oleh US Geological Survey (Preliminary Earthquake Report)
yang berasal dari bawah laut di Barat Sumatera
9.00 pagi - Gegaran dirasakan di KL, hinggakan ke Hospital Selayang, malah di Kelantan dan Trengganu!

DUA JAM kemudian (11.00 pagi) - Tsunami melanda Pulau Langkawi!

EMPAT JAM kemudian (1.00-2.00 petang)- Tsunami melanda pantai Barat - Utara Malaysia - Kuala Muda, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Peraaak, Selangor!

Jabatan Kaji Cuaca - Seismologis Malaysia ada mencatat bacaan gempa bumi pada waktu tersebut yang jelas menunjukkan bacaan skala Richter 9.0! Malah beberapa jam selepas kejadian tsunami, pada petang dan malam Isnin, ada liputan RTM & TV3 di Jabatan mereka dan wawancara dengan seorang pegawai Jabatan tersebut!

Malah mereka juga dapat merekodkan beberapa gegaran susulan (aftershock) berskala 5 hingga 6 Richter dalam tempoh 24 jam selepas gegaran pertama skala 9.0 pada pagi itu!

Persoalan pertama: kenapa Jabatan Kaji Cuaca-Seismologis TELAH GAGAL MEMBUAT JANGKAAN TSUNAMI susulan GEMPA BUMI BAWAH LAUT? Adakah kejadian tsunami tidak terlintas langsung dalam fikiran mereka, atau dalam Pelan Tindakan mereka tidak pernah ada menyebut kemungkinan tsunami?

Persoalan kedua: kenapa PIHAK AUTORITI LANGKAWI yang telah dilanda tsunami pada pukul 11.00 pagi TELAH GAGAL MELAPORKAN KEJADIAN TSUNAMI kepada PIHAK KESELAMATAN AWAM di tanah besar?

Persoalan ketiga: kenapa PUSAT BENCANA NEGARA telah GAGAL MEMBUAT JANGKAAN TSUNAMI susulan GEMPA BUMI BAWAH LAUT? Kemungkinan TSUNAMI langsung tidak dimaklumkan kepada pihak keselamatan Pulau Pinang, Kedah, Perak, Perlis, Selangor! Akibatnya sangat menyayat hati!

Persoalan keempat: kenapa selama ini TIDAK PERNAH WUJUD Pengawal Pantai atau Peronda dan sistem amaran bencana di pantai dan pesisiran laut! Seolah-olah sebuah Bank yang tidak mempunyai pengawal keselamatan! Adalah tidak masuk akal bahawa kawasan tumpuan pelancongan tempatan dan antarabangsa malah pelabuhan kapal & marina bertaraf dunia di Langkawi dan Penang rupa-rupanya langsung tidak ada pengawal keselamatan pantai!


GAMBAR-GAMBAR BERIKUT DIAMBIL PADA PAGI AHAD 26 DISEMBER SEJURUS SELEPAS BERLAKU GEGARAN PERTAMA PADA SEKITAR JAM 9.00 PAGI
PRECAUTION:Patients waiting outside the Selayang Hospital in Kuala Lumpur after tremors caused by the earthquake off the Sumatran coast were felt in the federal capital (around 9.00am).
SAFETY FIRST: Families of the Medan Tunku Flats in Jelutong, Penang, waiting outside their units after tremors were felt at around 9.05am.

PRECIOUS BUNDLES: Mothers carrying their babies during the ecacuation of the Selayang Hospital after tremors were felt in Kuala Lumpur (in the morning around 9.00am).


       
Gambar-gambar yang diambil beberapa ketika sebelum ombak besar pertama sampai ke pantai Batu Feringgi & Kerucut, Penang (New Straits Times).

         
Gambar-gambar di Gurney Drive, Penang beberapa ketika sebelum dan selepas landaan tsunami (Oleh BlogFikiran

Video Tsunami 1 - The Star online

Video Tsunami 2 & more images - NBC News online

Ini menunjukkan samada Jabatan Kaji Cuaca dan PUSAT BENCANA NEGARA di bawah arahan Menteri Pertahanan telah gagal memberi amaran kemungkinan tsunami yang akan menyusul gempa bumi itu, atau mereka sama sekali tiada pengetahuan dan jangkaan kejadian tsunami! Adakah sebelum ini mereka langsung tidak pernah belajar daripada latihan kajian atau belajar daripada pengalaman & tunjukajar pakar-pakar dari Pusat Kaji Cuaca & Seismologi negara-negara lain??

Kenyataan akhbar Pengarah Bahagian Seismologi di Jabatan Perkhidmatan Kaji Cuaca
(Berita Harian, Nasional, muka 2, Selasa 28 Disember 2004)

Lihat pula Bidasan oleh Pengarang New Straits Times bertajuk -
Post-Mortem: Ketiadaan sistem amaran punca korban tinggi

Ulasan kami: mereka telah dapat mengesan gegaran pertama berskala 9.0 pada lebih kurang pukul 9.00 pagi tersebut, dan beberapa gegaran susulan (aftershock) antara 5-6 Richter.

Soal tidak mempunyai peralatan mengesan tsunami adalah soal kedua.

Soal yang paling utama ialah: kenapa Bahagian Seismologi tidak mampu, atau tidak boleh, atau tidak ada langsung pengetahuan - membuat jangkaan kemungkinan berlaku tsunami yang SEMEMANGNYA akan berlaku akibat sesaran bumi (displacement) di bawah laut itu? Sepatutnya mereka mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan samada daripada teori atau latihan praktikal dalam bidang seismologi!

Takkan mereka tidak belajar langsung perkara ini? Kajian dalam bidang seismologi memang membuktikan gempa bumi bawah laut (undersea earthquake) boleh mengakibatkan sesaran lapisan bumi (displacement) yang besar yang kemudiannya akan menggerakkan isipadu air laut lalu menghasilkan gelombang beransur besar yang menjadi ombak tsunami bila mencecah ke pantai.

Sepatutnya mereka telah bertungkus-lumus memberi jangkaan & amaran tsunami sebaik sahaja mengesan gegaran pertama berukuran 9.0!

Atau adakah mereka hanya belajar secara teori sahaja, oleh sebab itu mereka tidak berkeyakinan atau tidak menjangkakan langsung pembentukan tsunami!

Yang sangat menjengkelkan kami mengenai `sikap dan cara kerja' pakar seismologi ini ialah: bila sudah terjadi tsunami di depan mata, barulah pakar seismologi Malaysia hendak bersuara!

Atau, Jabatan Kaji Cuaca - Seismologis Malaysia kemungkinan ada mengeluarkan jangkaan (prediction) kejadian tsunami atau gempa bumi susulan (aftershock), dan amaran telah dikeluarkan kepada pihak bertanggungjawab - iaitu Pusat Bencana Negara, tetapi PBN telah gagal atau tiada langsung mengambil tindakan sehinggalah tsunami benar-benar melanda Utara Semenanjung Malaysia!

PAKAR KAJI CUACA RAMAL BAHAYA OMBAK BESAR!
(Berita Harian - Jumaat 31 Disember 2004)

SIASAT KETIADAAN PENGAWAL PANTAI DI KAWASAN TUMPUAN UMUM & PELANCONGAN DI TEPI LAUT

Kami juga mendesak kerajaan Malaysia menjawab persoalan berikut: Kenapa tidak pernah wujud Pengawal Pantai (Coast Guard, Beach Patrol atau `Baywatch') yang berperanan memantau keselamatan pantai terutama kawasan tumpuan pelancongan dan perkampungan nelayan tepi laut?

Malah di Pulau Langkawi - pusat pelancongan bertaraf antarabangsa dengan prasarana kapal-kapal mewah dan resort lima bintang tepi laut serta feri penumpang - TIDAK WUJUD PENGAWAL PANTAI ATAU SIREN AMARAN KECEMASAN samada di pusat tumpuan pelancong mahupun di kawasan perkampungan nelayan!

Pada pukul 11.00 pagi, kawasan nelayan di Pantai Cenang, Langkawi dan kawasan lainnya telah dilanda tsunami yang dahsyat memusnahkan bot-bot nelayan dan kapal-kapal mewah. Sayangnya sebaik sahaja ini berlaku PIHAK KESELAMATAN LANGKAWI telah gagal pula memaklumkan kejadian itu kepada pihak berwajib di tanah besar!
Saksi mengatakan bahawa kakitangan sebuah hotel di Langkawi ada memaklumkan kepada rakan-rakan mereka di sebuah hotel di Pulau Pinang.

Kami merasa kesal kerana kejadian tsunami itu telah pun melihatkan tanda-tanda yang jelas agak lama sebelum ombak pertama menghempas ke pantai! Tapi malangnya pihak keselamatan dan orang ramai tidak mengetahui langsung tanda amaran bahaya ini! Malah yang lebih menjengkelkan ialah kegagalan pihak Jabatan Kaji Cuaca-Seismologi dan Pusat Bencana Negara yang langsung tidak menjangkakan pembentukan tsunami susulan gempa bumi, dan langsung tidak bertindak sebaik sahaja tanda-tanda tsunami kelihatan oleh orang ramai!

Di Kedah, kawasan yang paling teruk ialah perkampungan Kota Kuala Muda - 1,000 buah rumah musnah. Ramai yang terperangkap di dalam rumah mereka dan diliputi air berlumpur. Saksi-saksi mengatakan mereka mengalami DUA OMBAK dengan sela masa 20 MINIT (1.15pm & 1.35pm). Pada kali pertama mereka tidak begitu menghiraukan, manakala pada kali kedua ombak menjadi sangat besar setinggi 5 meter dan memusnahkan banyak rumah, kereta, bot nelayan, dan motorsikal. Ombak besar itu membawa isipadu air laut yang besar menerusi kuala sungai yang sempit lalu melanda perkampungan hingga jauh ke darat. Jumlah korban di Kuala Muda ialah 10 orang.
Di sini, kami menyatakan kekesalan pada pihak berkuasa & polis yang sepatutnya telah sedar dan memindahkan penduduk sebaik sahaja tanda-tanda tsunami akan melanda, dan juga sebaik sahaja ombak pertama melanda, kerana ramai yang maut akibat terperangkap dalam ombak kedua, 20 minit kemudian!

Manakala 32 daripada jumlah mangsa korban di Malaysia adalah PENGUNJUNG PANTAI yang sedang berkelah di beberapa buah pusat di Pulau Pinang:
32 maut, 4 masih hilang - setakat Isnin 27 Disember.

Batu Feringgi - 16 maut, Balik Pulau - 15, Seberang Perai Utara - 1;
Cedera 141, cedera parah - 18.
Seorang pemuda, Mohd Samson, kehilangan ibunya dan empat adik-beradik. Mereka sedang berkelah di Pantai Miami (Batu Feringgi) bila tragedi itu berlaku.

Manakala di Balik Pulau, seorang bapa, Zulkifli Mohd Noor kehilangan LIMA orang anaknya yang berumur antara 5-17 tahun, dan seorang anak saudara berumur 23 tahun. Mereka adalah penduduk berhampiran Pantai Pasir Panjang. Beliau mengatakan bahawa selepas ombak kali pertama, air laut menjadi surut dan ikan-ikan bergelimpangan di pantai. Orang ramai dan anak-anak Zulkifli lantas menghampiri pantai dan mengutip ikan. Pada ketika itulah OMBAK KEDUA yang lebih besar menghempas lalu menghanyutkan orang ramai. Mereka yang terselamat kerana dapat berpaut pada pokok dan batu - yang lain terkorban. Anak bongsunya terselamat kerana buaiannya tersangkut pada pokok.

Laporan saksi-saksi menyatakan kawasan tumpuan pelancong seperti di Batu Feringgi, Pulau Pinang dibanjiri oleh beratus-ratus orang yang sedang berkelah pada hari cuti. Pada mulanya, orang ramai melihat paras air laut telah surut dengan mendadak dan ini adalah kejadian luar biasa yang disedari oleh orang ramai, tetapi malangnya mereka tidak menyangka langsung ini adalah petanda awal pembentukan ombak besar merbahaya!

Beberapa ketika selepas itu, baru kelihatan ombak pertama yang sedang menuju ke pantai. Malah, dalam pada itu, orang ramai masih terpinga-pinga dan ramai yang menghampiri pinggir pantai untuk melihat kedatangan ombak pertama dan seterusnya!

Hakikat bahawa ramai yang maut adalah pelancong yang sedang berkelah di pantai dan mereka dilanda gelombang TSUNAMI yang kedua beberapa ketika selepas gelombang pertama reda!

Seorang saksi mengatakan kakitangan sebuah hotel berhampiran telah menerima panggilan telefon daripada Langkawi yang telahpun ditimpa tsunami. Pihak hotel tersebut mengarahkan tetamu hotel mereka menjauhi pantai, tetapi mereka tidak langsung memberitahu amaran kepada orang awam di pantai berhampiran.

Rakaman video seorang pelancong di pantai jelas menunjukkan ketiadaan Pengawal Pantai atau siren kecemasan dan tiada langsung amaran bahaya kepada orang ramai yang seolah-olah terpukau dan tidak bergegas lari menyelamatkan diri!

Lihat rakaman video saksi
Video - The Star online

Kami merasa amat kesal kerana selama ini TIDAK PERNAH WUJUD Pengawal Pantai atau Peronda dan sistem amaran bencana di pantai dan pesisiran laut! Seolah-olah sebuah Bank yang tidak mempunyai pengawal keselamatan! Adalah tidak masuk akal bahawa kawasan tumpuan pelancongan tempatan dan antarabangsa malah pelabuhan kapal & marina bertaraf dunia di Langkawi dan Penang rupa-rupanya langsung tidak ada pengawal keselamatan pantai!


Surat pembaca (saksi kejadian gempa bumi & tsunami)

Lihat Laporan Penting

Sedarkah anda jika tsunami itu berlaku pada waktu malam ia akan meragut nyawa lebih ramai mangsa? Di Kuala Muda, Kedah, ramai mangsa yang terperangkap dalam banjir lumpur dalam rumah mereka sendiri ketika sedang berehat dalam keadaan sedar.

Kepada pihak autoriti dan kerajaan Malaysia, kami mahu mendapat penjelasan yang tidak berselindung atau bercanggah atau menyembunyikan hakikat sebenar kenapa tiada tindakan amaran tsunami & pemindahan (evacuation) selepas berlaku gegaran di darat pada pagi tersebut
(9.00 pagi, gempa bumi skala Richter 9.0, selang masa 4 jam, tsunami 1.15 petang).


Jabatan Kaji Cuaca, Pegawai Seismologi
(Meteorological /Weather Services Department, Seismologist)
- Adakah mereka tidak tahu bahawa gempaaa bumi bawah-laut sebegitu akan disusuli oleh tsunami?
Atau adakah mereka tidak langsung terfikir kemungkinan tsunami kerana Malaysia tidak pernah mengalami gempa bumi atau tsunami sebelum ini?

Kenyataan akhbar Pengarah Bahagian Seismologi di Jabatan Perkhidmatan Kaji Cuaca
(Berita Harian, Nasional, muka 2, Selasa 28 Disember 2004)

- Mereka takkan tidak ada peralatan unttuk mengesan pergerakan ombak lautan sebagaimana Jabatan Samudera (Oceanography) sepatutnya ada dan gunakan?

- Adakah mereka tak pernah BELAJAR APA--APA TENTANG TSUNAMI atau MEREKA JAHIL tak pernah belajar daripada pengalaman negara lain dalam perkara sebegini?

- Adakah mereka mengamalkan SIKAP TUNGGGU DAN LIHAT?

- Atau adakah mereka tak boleh buat apaa-apa untuk memberi AMARAN (WARNING, ALERT) tentang kejadian tsunami susulan daripada gempa bumi pagi itu, kerana DITUTUP MULUT?
Lihat pengakuan pakar seismologi Thailand dalam akhbar 31 Disember

- Kenapa mereka baru sibuk-sibuk hendakkk memberi amaran bahawa dalam masa 2-3 hari lagi akan berlaku gempa bumi dan tsunami? Mungkin kerana mereka baru hendak buka mata dan tahu apa itu tsunami bila sudah jadi depan mata....Sudah terhantuk baru nak terngadah?!

- Tidak pernahkah mereka menjalinkan keeerjasama dengan Pusat Amaran Tsunami Pasifik atau Badan Pemantau Tsunami Jepun - dua buah badan pemantau dan amaran tsunami yang mempunyai pengalaman luas, prasarana canggih dan komunikasi dengan seluruh dunia?

- Ini dia kenyataan daripada Pegawai dii Pusat Pemantauan Tsunami Pasifik : "Tsunami yang melanda kawasan pinggir lautan Hindi (termasuk Malaysia dan Thailand) sepatutnya dapat dijangkakan muncul susulan gempa bumi bawah laut yang berasal dari utara Sumatera; tetapi mereka tidak mempunyai sistem peralatan dan amaran bencana yang mampu mengesan tsunami, dan kami tidak mempunyai jalinan sistem amaran kepada mereka...."

TSUNAMI DIJANGKA BERLAKU LAGI

Kuala Lumpur - Risiko berlaku sekali lagi ombak besar atau tsunami seperti yang melanda beberapa negara di rantau ini termasuk Malaysia, kelmarin, masih tinggi berikutan lebih 16 gegaran kecil berukuran 5 hingga 6 skala Richter dilaporkan berlaku dalam tempoh 24 jam selepas gegaran pertama pagi kelmarin.

Siri gegaran itu dijangka terus berlaku dalam tempoh beberapa hari lagi sebelum ukuran kekuatannya dijangka menurun.

Pengarah Bahagian Seismologi, Jabatan Perkhidmatan Kaji Cuaca Malaysia (JPKM), Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, Low Kong Chiew, berkata orang ramai terutama di kawasan utara dinasihatkan menghentikan sementara kegiatan di tepi pantai.

"Keadaan ketika ini masih berisiko sekurang-kurangnya dalam tempoh beberapa hari lagi. Kita menasihat penduduk di Utara Malaysia terutama di pulau sentiasa berjaga-jaga dan berada jauh dari pantai", katanya ketika dihubungi di sini, semalam.

......

Mengenai ketiadaan amaran awal berlakunya tsunami di perairan negara, Low berkata, Malaysia tidak mempunyai peralatan untuk mengesan fenomena itu.

"Harga peralatan untuk mengesan tsunami terlalu tinggi dan kita bukan berada dalam zon yang mengalaminya. Jika ada sekalipun, amaran awal tidak dapat dikeluarkan berikutan kelajuannya antara 700 hingga 800 kilometer sejam, manakala jarak antara sumber gempa bumi dan Malaysia amat dekat", katanya.

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Ulasan kami: mereka telah dapat mengesan gegaran pertama berskala 9.0 pada lebih kurang pukul 9.00 pagi tersebut, dan beberapa gegaran susulan (aftershock) antara 5-6 Richter.

Soal tidak mempunyai peralatan mengesan tsunami adalah soal kedua.

Soal yang paling utama ialah: kenapa Bahagian Seismologi tidak mampu, atau tidak boleh, atau tidak ada langsung pengetahuan - membuat jangkaan kemungkinan berlaku tsunami yang SEMEMANGNYA akan berlaku akibat sesaran bumi (displacement) di bawah laut itu? Sepatutnya mereka mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan samada daripada teori atau latihan praktikal dalam bidang seismologi!

Takkan mereka tidak belajar langsung perkara ini? Kajian dalam bidang seismologi memang membuktikan gempa bumi bawah laut (undersea earthquake) boleh mengakibatkan sesaran lapisan bumi (displacement) yang besar yang kemudiannya akan menggerakkan isipadu air laut lalu menghasilkan gelombang beransur besar yang menjadi ombak tsunami bila mencecah ke pantai.

Sepatutnya mereka telah bertungkus-lumus memberi jangkaan & amaran tsunami sebaik sahaja mengesan gegaran pertama berukuran 9.0!

Atau adakah mereka hanya belajar secara teori sahaja, oleh sebab itu mereka tidak berkeyakinan atau tidak menjangkakan langsung pembentukan tsunami!

Yang sangat menjengkelkan kami mengenai `sikap dan cara kerja' pakar seismologi ini ialah: bila sudah terjadi tsunami di depan mata, barulah pakar seismologi Malaysia hendak bersuara!

PAKAR KAJI CUACA THAILAND MENGAKU RAMAL BAHAYA OMBAK BESAR - TAPI MENYEMBUNYIKAN AMARAN!!

THAILAND'S EXPERT HAD TO SHUT UP FOR FEAR OF SCARING AWAY FOREIGN TOURISTS!!

(Berita Harian - Jumaat 31 Disember 2004)

BANGKOK - Pakar kaji cuaca Thailand sudah pun mengetahui kemungkinan negara itu akan dilanda ombak besar tsunami beberapa minit selepas gempa bumi berhampiran Sumatera pada pagi Ahad lalu.

Bagaimanapun, selepas menghadiri mesyuarat krisis mereka tidak memberi amaran mengenai ancaman itu dalam usaha melindungi industri pelancongan tempatan, lapor akhbar The Nation semalam.

Laporan itu yang turut dipetik akhbar Sweden, The Expresse, menyatakan pakar berkenaan mendapat berita kira-kira jam 8 pagi Ahad lalu. Sejam selepas itu, ombak pertama melanda pantai negara berkenaan.

"Bagaimanapun pakar berkenaan mula membincangkan kesan ekonomi jika amaran mengenai kemunculan ombak besar dikeluarkan", tulis akhbar itu.

Hujah utama menentang pengumuman mengenai amaran itu adalah disebabkan fakta tidak pernah berlaku banjir besar dalam tempoh 300 tahun.

Selain itu, pakar berkenaan merasakan bahawa Pulau Sumatera akan menjadi penampan untuk pantai di selatan Thailand.

Keputusan itu juga didorong KESILAPAN MAKLUMAT yang diterima pakar itu sebelum ini yang menyatakan gempa bumi yang berlaku itu hanya berukuran 8.1 pada skala Richter.

Gempa bumi yang sekuat itu di kawasan hampir sama pada 2002 tidak memberi sebarang kesan atau menyebabkan banjir di Thailand.

Seorang pakar yang ditemuramah oleh The Nation berkata, jabatan itu hanya mempunyai empat pakar gempa bumi berbanding 900 petugas jabatan kaji cuaca.

Seorang lagi pakar memberitahu akhbar itu, kemungkinan berlaku ombak besar dibincangkan tetapi disebabkan risiko, mereka memilih untuk tidak mengeluarkan amaran.

"Kami akhirnya memutuskan untuk berdiam diri kerana musim pelancongan sedang rancak. Semua hotel habis ditempah. Apa akan terjadi jika tiada apa yang berlaku selepas amaran dikeluarkan, dan semua pelancong meninggalkan pusat peranginan."

"Industri pelancongan pasti akan terjejas jika tiada apa yang berlaku. Kami tidak mahu disaman," kata pakar itu. - Agensi

Thai weather officials under attack for lack of warning
By Amy Kazmin in Bangkok
Published: December 29 2004 20:34 | Last updated: December 29 2004 20:34

Thailand was on Wednesday grasping the magnitude of the tsunami disaster amid criticism that meteorological officials had been too hesitant to warn of the risks of a sea surge in case they were wrong.

Thailand's meteorological department knew by 8.10am (local time) on Sunday about an hour before the first waves hit that a powerful earthquake had struck near Sumatra, and they discussed the possibility that the quake could cause large sea disturbances. The department had already distributed information pamphlets several years ago explaining the risks of tsunamis around southern Thai beach resorts.

But without definitive proof of an imminent tsunami, the meteorological department dared not issue a national warning lest it be accused of spreading panic and hurting the tourism industry if the disturbances did not materialise.

“Not every earthquake that occurs in the sea will cause a tsunami; it is very difficult to know,” said Sumalee Prachuab, a seismologist at the department. “If we issue a warning about the possibility of a tsunami, people will panic very much.

“Phuket is for the tourists, and [if we warn] they will cancel everything,” she said. “Then if the tsunami did not occur, the meteorological department will have many telephone calls, complaining ‘why did you make that prediction?'.

“Five years ago, we did distribute some papers about the tsunami, telling people ‘Protect yourself',” she said. “We said, if you feel the earthquake when you are swimming in the sea, please go quickly to land. But the Thai people maybe forgot.”

More than 1,600 people, including 473 foreigners, were officially confirmed dead on Wednesday, and the number of missing is now pegged at more than 4,000. Nearly 1,000 of those still unaccounted for were said to be Swedes, and another several hundred Norwegians. At Khao Lak, a favourite destination for European tourists, local police said they had already recovered about 1,000 bodies, and that the final toll at the resort zone could rise to 2,500 to 3,000.

On Phi Phi island, rescue workers have also pulled hundreds of bodies from the wreckage of holiday bungalows levelled by the force of the surge.

As the number of dead rises, Thai authorities admitted that they were struggling against time and the elements to identify hundreds of victims brought to four Buddhist temples, now acting as makeshift morgues, in Khao Lak.

“The difficulty now is to identify the nationality of those who died, to identify whether they are Thais or foreigners,” Surakiart Sathirathai, the foreign minister, said. US search and rescue aircraft with special surveillance equipment also began making special flights yesterday to try to locate other victims. Teams of foreign doctors and other rescue workers have also arrived to aid the effort.

Recriminations are likely to grow as the immediate crisis abates.

(Surat pembaca kepada Utusan Malaysia, Rabu 29 Disember 2004)

Tragedi boleh dielak jika pakar gempa bumi PRIHATIN

Saya amat bersetuju dengan pendapat Shamsul Anwar dari Gombak, Selangor bertajuk Mengapa tiada isyarat amaran awal dalam ruangan Pendapat akhbar ini pada 28 Disember, 2004.

Gempa bumi tersebut berlaku di antara Lautan Hindi dan lautan Andaman pada jam 9.00 pagi.

Gegarannya dirasai di Pulau Pinang sehingga ke Lembah Klang.

Gempa bumi yang berlaku pada 26 Disember, 2004 mempunyai magnitud lebih daripada 8 Richter.

Ini lebih besar daripada yang pernah berlaku di negara-negara lain sebelum ini. (Contoh di Kobe, Jepun pada 6 Richter).

Apakah pakar-pakar agensi kerajaan yang memantau gempa bumi tidak dapat maklumat ini, atau tidak dapat meramal bencana yang akan menimpa, atau mereka tidak prihatin sama sekali?

Saya sangat setuju dengan penulis bahawa sekiranya pakar-pakar tersebut prihatin dan menghantar amaran kepada pihak-pihak berkenaan, perkara yang menyayatkan hati tidak akan berlaku dan boleh dielakkan!

Kita hanya akan kehilangan harta-benda sahaja tanpa kehilangan nyawa.

Di samping menghantar maklumat kepada pihak-pihak berkenaan, mereka sepatutnya boleh menghantar maklumat [amaran] kepada RTM, TV3 dan lain-lain lagi untuk memancarkan maklumat tersebut serta amaran.

DR. RAMELAH MOHAMED, Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.

Jabatan Kaji Cuaca patut ada amaran awal

Saya terpanggil untuk menyuarakan rasa terkilan saya berkenaan gempa bumi dan tsunami yang telah terjadi.

Kita mempunyai Jabatan Kaji Cuaca dan saya juga kira mereka di antara yang merekodkan kejadian gempa bumi di kawasan sekitarnya.

Mereka tentu tahu ombak besar tsunami akan terbentuk jika kejadian gempa bumi berlaku di lautan.

Kejadian gempa bumi yang terbaru berlaku pada kira-kira 10.00 pagi dan diikuti ombak tsunami pada kira-kira 1.00 tengahari yang melanda kebanyakan pantai barat Malaysia.

Di dalam TIGA JAM itu banyak perkara boleh dilakukan, dan di antaranya:
Menyalurkan amaran awal kebarangkalian berlakunya ombak tsunami melanda pantai kita dan
Amaran boleh disebarkan melalui beberapa rangkaian radio kita yang kebanyakannya beroperasi 24 jam dan juga melalui saluran televisyen.

Mereka yang mendengarnya boleh menyalurkan pula kepada saudara-mara dan sahabat-handai yang berada di pantai yang terlibat melalui telefon. Saya rasa dengan cara ini akan dapat mengurangkan tragedi yang melibatkan nyawa atau harta-benda.

Alasan kerana ia tidak mungkin melibatkan negara kita, atau ia berlaku 30-40 tahun sekali tidak boleh diambil kira kerana negara kita yang maju dengan infrastruktur yang canggih mesti seiring dengan sistem amaran awal malapetaka [bencana alam] yang canggih juga!

Saya mengucapkan takziah dan simpati kepada keluarga mangsa yang terlibat.

ABDUL SALAM AHMAD, Kuala Lumpur

Asia Tsunami Warning System Feasible, But Political

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The major obstacles to creating an early-warning system that could have saved many victims of Asia's massive tsunami are not money and technology, but poverty and political and cultural division besetting the region it hit, experts and officials said on Monday.

The wall of water that killed more than 23,300 people in coastal villages in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka was tracked by U.S. seismologists who said they had no way to warn local governments of the danger.

The tsunami was spawned by the most powerful earthquake in 40 years, which struck off the Indonesian coast an hour before the tsunami made landfall on Sunday. U.S. officials tried frantically to warn the deadly wall of water was coming, but there was no official alert system in the region.

Six "tsunameters" along the Pacific coastline, one near Chile and 14 off the Japanese coast now feed data to the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Centers in Hawaii and Alaska.

Scientists wanted to place two more of the tsunami meters in the Indian Ocean, including one near Indonesia, as part of a global warning system, but the plan has not been funded, said Eddie Bernard, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.

The tsunameters each cost $250,000 and take about a month to build, Bernard said. "It has been vetted through a (United Nations (news - web sites) commission) and they support it but there's always a delay between proposal writing and deployment of the funds."

Jan Egeland, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a news conference that disaster preparation activities in the Indian Ocean area have focused on monsoons, which are common and can be devastating. Tsunamis typically occur in the area once a century, he said.

He said a warning system should be looked into. "I think it would be a massive undertaking to actually have a full-fledged tsunami warning system that would really be effective in many of these places," he said.

MOVING PEOPLE AWAY FROM DANGER

Hilton Root, a Milken Institute senior fellow and a former U.S. representative to the Asian Development Bank, said poverty and instability in the hardest-hit nations could be the biggest barrier to implementing the most crucial aspect of an early-warning system: moving people away from danger.

"These are countries that really don't get along, are at different stages of development and don't trust each other for political reasons," Root said. "They are just beginning to bring down trade barriers so it's an area where the political tension is easily aroused and cooperation never been easy."

But the tsunami's extraordinary toll may be "a wake-up call to these people that they need to think about regional risks and start doing something about it," Root said.

By contrast, the rich nations of the Pacific rim already have extensive, high-tech warning systems in place.

Japan, for instance, has a network of sensors that record seismic data and feed information to a national agency able to issue evacuations warnings within minutes of any quake.

And an earthquake off the California coast would have triggered instant warnings to federal and state agencies via dedicated hotlines, and to the public via emergency broadcasts, said Paul Whitmore, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska.

California also recently launched an electronic system that alerts citizens and emergency workers via e-mail and pager, said Sheryl Tankersley of the state Office of Emergency Services.

"We do have a robust system here in California," Tankersley said. "We like to say it's the best in the nation, if not the world. But it's all based on neighbor helping neighbor. Cooperation is essential."

(Additional reporting by Irwin Arieff at the United Nations.)

- Apakah selama ini Malaysia tidak MAMPPU mewujudkan sistem komunikasi dan pertukaran maklumat & hantar amaran antara pihak PTWC, US Geological Survey, Pusat Tsunami Jepun, atau mana-mana pihak Pemantau Bencana Alam Rantau dengan pihak autoriti & tentera Kerajaan Negara-negara Dunia Ketiga termasuk Malaysia ?

(Atau hanya wujud Pusat Memerangi Keganasan `Anti-Terrorism' yang dipaksakan oleh kerajaan Amerika ke atas kerajaan negara dunia ketiga terutama sekali negara-negara umat Islam?)

- Kenapa Jepun yang mempunyai Pusat Tsuunami sendiri, dan banyak pengalaman gempa bumi & tsunami - tiada pemindahan teknologi atau tunjuuk-ajar daripada mereka demi kebaikan kita bersama, sedangkan mereka tahu kemungkinan bencana ini berlaku di negara-negara Asia lain? Kenapa kita di Malaysia yang mempunyai hubungan rapat perdagangan & ekonomi dengan Jepun, dan selalu `memandang tinggi' kepada Jepun tidak pernah pula mengadakan inisiatif usahasama Pelan Tindakan Bencana Alam atau sekurang-kurangnya belajar daripada pengalaman dan pemindahan teknologi (technology transfer) dari mereka? Ini bukanlah bermakna kita perlu mengadakan sendiri peralatan mengesan tsunami, dan kita sememangnya telahpun ada peralatan mengesan gempa bumi. Tetapi soalnya kenapa kita tidak pernah pula mengambil manfaat daripada pengalaman mereka?

- THAILAND: Paakar kaji cuaca sudah tahu awal-awal tapi tutup mulut sebab takut kena saman!

- Kenapa Indonesia yang banyak kali menngalami gempa bumi dan tsunami - tidak mampu mengadakan sistem pengesan bencana dan pelan keselamatan? Angka korban mencecah 400,000 orang. Sayangnya kerajaan Indonesia mungkin terlalu sibuk menangani `keganasan' dan bersikap tidak adil kepada rakyatnya yang berketurunan Aceh dan Muslim; manakala Amerika pula tidak pernah mahu memberikan khidmat kepakaran seismologi mereka..

- Kenapa Singapura yang mempunyai kerjaasama ekonomi dan ketenteraan yang rapat dengan Amerika Syarikat - tidakkah mereka ada prasarana pemantauan bencana alam serantau? Atau adakah mereka lebih pentingkan program ketenteraan dan pusat anti-teroris yang digunakan untuk menguatkan kepentingan dan penguasaan Amerika di rantau kita?

POST-MORTEM: Lives lost for want of tidal wave alert (New Straits Times)

COULD we have done better? Absolutely. We could have been more prepared as the catastrophic earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on Sunday morning was not a surprise.

After decades of dissecting seismic fault zones, including the long seam between tectonic plates in the bed of the Indian Ocean, scientists have become better at describing where large quakes are likely to occur.

Although when and exactly where the next big one will strike remains unpredictable, there is an early warning system in place where earthquakes and tsunami waves are prone to occur.

Unfortunately, such a system does not exist here or in many parts of the Indian Ocean where more than 50,000 people have died since Sunday.

Scientists report that there was no way to convey the information speedily to countries or communities an ocean away (see story on Page 18).

Phone calls, it seems, were hastily made in the Indian Ocean danger zone; outside of that area, it was impossible to inform people and Governments fast enough.

Hence, when tidal waves pummelled the northern shores of the Peninsula, Malaysians were caught unawares.

The Meteorological Services Department, which has 12 seismological stations, claimed that all State security committees were alerted about the tremors caused by the quake.

But who could have known that tidal waves would follow? Any warning of this would certainly have reduced the number of dead and missing more than 48 hours after the disaster.

Unfortunately, the authorities in Penang, Kedah and Perak contacted yesterday, said the information they received from the MET on Sunday did not warn them of the aftershocks.

Kedah Natural Disaster Committee chairman Datuk Syed Unan Mashri Syed Abdullah said they were only alerted after the waves hit the shores of mainland Kedah and Langkawi.

Then, people were advised to take precautions in case the waves recurred.

"We were warned afterwards. Not before. But we directed district security committees to pass the warning to the ground," he said.

Kedah's National Security division director Zaini Abdul Rahman said the usual alert was received after the quake but there was no mention of tidal waves.

In George Town, state police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Othman Talib said police were not informed about the possibility that tidal waves could hit Penang island.

This was why people were not warned to stay away from beaches and the sea.

The State security council only met after the tsunami hit to discuss measures to prevent more deaths.

Othman said although police had known about the quake off Sumatra, they were not in a position to announce impending dangers.

"The council should have issued alerts soon after the quake to warn people of possible tidal waves," he said.

State Civil Defence chief Mohd Johari Mohd Taufi said the department had activated its own operations room as soon as tremors were felt on the island.

"We were on standby but did not expect a tsunami.

"However, we managed to advise some residents in several housing estates in Batu Ferringghi to stay away from the beaches as high winds were expected," he said.

In Perak, the State National Security Division (NSD) is literally "incapable" of issuing early warnings to those living along the coast.

The division, which is under the Prime Minister's Department, can only compile regular updates on seismic activities issued by the Met Department before faxing them to the three affected districts in the State.

State division director Md Nor Abu Bakar said it was impossible to warn those staying in these districts of a threat which it (NSD) was not capable of detecting in the first place.

Nor also said the decision to call for an evacuation (based on the updates) lay with the respective district officer.

The division was only alerted by police when waves hit the Krian, Manjung and Hilir Perak districts about 1.30pm.

As in most cases, receiving alerts after the fact did not help very much.

Read newspaper interview with the Seismologist Director

Thailand's expert had to shut up for fear of scaring foreign tourists!

- What good is the MALAYSIAN SEISMOLOGIIST & WEATHER SERVICES DEPT if they aren't capable of telling (or forecasting) if a tsunami would form following an undersea earthquake? What if a cyclone, a hurricane, or typhoon is coming? Can't they tell from the earthquake readings, don't they have the knowledge either from training or experience, or maybe they don't have the facilities at all?

- Why is there not exist a system of cooommunications, information and alerts between PTWC, US Geological Survey, Japanese Tsunami Center, or any kind of Natural Disaster Monitoring Agencies and Third World nations and authorities?

- What about Japan, the country with a lot of experiences with earthquakes and tsunamis. They do have tsunami warning system but alas we poor Asian countries didn't have the benefit.

We (Malaysia) have had close economic and trade with Japan - why we never wanted to take initiative to set up a regional disaster monitoring & alert system with Japan's advanced facilities and vast experience? We don't have to buy our own `tsunameters', and we already have our own earthquake monitoring system. But at least we should have learned a lot from their experiences dealing with earthquake and tsunamis. We even start to doubt that Malaysia is prepared to face a huge earthquake that can devastate our cities!

- They said that ASIAN COUNTRIES COULD NOT AFFORD IT
- We say that we could have afforded itttt, we have the money, we have the experts, but we got the wrong prorities, we mixed up between SAFETY & STUPIDITY (the government that is). At the very least we should have had the communication & warning system linked to PTWC units around the Pacific set up by US & Japan.

- They do have the ANTI-TERRORISM CENTEEER don't they? As demanded by the American government, imposed on Third world nations especially the Muslim countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Southern Thailand). What with the American military bases in the Phillipines, South Korea, China? We the people don't get any benefit from these military joint-ventures!

Singapore - the country with extensive economics & military cooperation with the US in military setup and anti-terrorism program. Does Singapore has ANY Natural Disaster Monitoring & Alert system?? What if the tsunami were coming to Singapore - a tiny and fragile island - would the American Government scramble to alert them? The fact that the American government never think of setting up any natural-disaster monitoring system in Singapore or other nation for the benefit of the region really bewildered us. (The military base and anti-terrorism center is really about controlling over us - but that's another issue).

Indonesia - had experienced many earthquakes and tsunamis - but why don't they have any kind of disaster mitigation plan or regional disaster warning system? Recent quakes and tsunamis should have warranted the Indonesian authority of this system!

Thailand's expert had to shut up for fear of scaring foreign tourists!

- Were they (the Malaysian weather servvice) INSTRUCTED not to issue TSUNAMI warning or precaution following the earthquake in that morning?

- Did they have this belief that THERE WOULD BE NO HARM done by the first earth quake at 9.00 am apart from some aftershock which would not able to devastate buildings?

- Couldn't they act on PERSONAL INITIATTIVE like calling over the phone or maybe use the SMS to alert the authority or anybody outside the department?

- Or is it their standard practice of jjjust WAIT AND SEE...?
"Wow! This is the first time in my life I saw the Richter scale move at all. The computer clearly showed seismic activities but we don't think of any harm will befall Malaysia....tsunami? what tsunami? What movie???!"

- And why did they (the Malaysian weathher service) were very positive and excited that there will be another earth quake and tsunami in 2-3 days? This shows that they KNEW of the ONCOMING AFTERSHOCKS and MORE TSUNAMI - or did they just learn this or just doing their jobs as being told?

Tentera Laut Malaysia (Navy)
- kenapa TLDM senyap tak kata apa-apa? Mana pergi Coast Guard dengan kapal perang dan kapal selam dengan peralatan canggih-manggih sebagai pemantau samudera takkan mereka tak boleh jangka tsunami akan melanda?

- No comment from the Navy? No action???? Even the Navy was useless notwithstanding expensive submarines and warships and having ocean monitoring system in place?

INVESTIGATE THE ABSENCE OF COAST GUARD, BEACH PATROL & COASTAL DISASTER WARNING FOR THE PUBLIC AT COASTAL AREAS, SEA-SIDE PUBLIC RECREATION & TOURIST AREAS

We also want the explanation to why is there no such thing as a Coast Guard (like the Baywatch) or beach patrol which serves to watch over the public safety & rescue at recreation and tourist beaches and other coastal areas like near fishing communities?

We regret that only now we know that there has never been any coast guard, beach patrol, nor disaster alert system in coastal areas. It is like a bank with no security guard! It bewildered us with the fact that popular tourist beaches receiving local and international visitors and world-class yacht harbor & marina in Langkawi & Penang did not have Coast Guard!

It was very unfortunate that practically NOBODY knew what was coming despite the fact that many people saw the strange signs far from the beaches long before the first wave hit them! Not even the security office nor hotel & resort beach recreation staff!
What is more disappointing is that the Weather Services Dept-Seismologist, and the National Disaster Center WERE COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS at the incoming tsunamis, Najib even announced via the national TV that everything was OK after the earthquake and people need not worry and carry on as usual! (That announcement was made around 11.00 am). It is obvious that these people in charge of natural disasters only turned their heads inland and upward, and completely neglected the ravages from the seas!

In Kedah, the hardest hit area was the Kuala Muda village, with 1,000 houses destroyed. Many of them were caught inside their homes in mud flood which was very high. Witnesses said that they were hit by TWO WAVES within 20 MINUTES (1.15pm & 1.35pm), the first wave did not bother them much, but it was the SECOND that was really huge as high as 5 meters and devastating. The waves coming from the sea entered through the narrow estuary and crashed on peoples and homes far from the beach. The fact that many of the victims were drowned by the SECOND WAVE, which was 20 minutes later, really bewildered us! The officials and the police should have managed in 20 minutes to evacuate the peoples!

It is also very unfortunate that majority of Malaysian dead victims were BEACH PICNICKERS taking Sunday/school holiday at Penang beaches
- 32 dead bodies, 4 missing as of Monday 27 Disember.

Batu Feringgi - 16 dead, Balik Pulau - 15, Seberang Perai Utara - 1;
Injured 141, critical - 18.
A man, Mohd Samson, lost his mother and four siblings. They were having picnic at Pantai Miami when the tsunami hit.

In Balik Pulau, a father, Zulkifli Mohd Noor lost FIVE children aged between 5-17 years, and a niece, aged 23. They were residents near Pantai Pasir Panjang. He said that his five children were caught in the SECOND WAVE. Just after the first wave, there were fishes jumping out of the water and people started picking the fish lying on the beach. The second wave hit them really hard, and some people managed to cling on to trees and rocks. Others were unfortunate and drowned.

Witnesses said that in beach areas with high concentration of people like Langkawi and Batu Feringgi, Penang which received many tourists and locals on their Sunday vacation - there was no Coast Guard or nobody who knew and alerted of the incoming danger!

The public did see the sudden receding water but they were totally ignorant of this as warning sign of tsunami formation!

Only moments after the recede that first huge wave came crashing on the beach - that did not alert the public nor make them flee after the first round of wave.

It was unfortunate that many being caught in the waves were those curious or totally in awe, and children and adults who did not manage to flee or cling for safety.

Another witness said that a hotel recreation staff received tsunami alert from their colleagues in Langkawi who had earlier being hit, but they only cleared their guests off the beach and tried to save their boats & jet skis, but they did not bother to alert the public beach strollers.

A witness' video recorder clearly showed that there was no beach patroller, no Coast Guard, no emergency siren, nor evacuation and rescue. It also clearly showed that the public was really unaware of the danger and only ran to safety after the third wave crash!

See the video
Video Tsunami 1 - The Star online

MINISTRY OF DEFENCELESNESS, DISASTER, DEATH & DESTRUCTION - NAJIB: WHY DID YOU DO NOTHING TO ALERT THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE TSUNAMI DISASTER TO EVACUATE THE PEOPLES?


ABDULLAH BADAWI
NAJIB - WHY DID YOU WAIT AND SEE?

WHY DIDN'T THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT CARRY OUT EVACUATION?

KENAPA KERAJAAN MALAYSIA MENUNGGU DAN MELIHAT SESUATU BENCANA - BILA SUDAH TERJADI BARU HENDAK SIBUK-SIBUK?

MANA PERGI PERALATAN TEKNOLOGI CANGGIH DENGAN HARGA BERJUTA-JUTA RINGGIT? APA GUNA ADA SATELIT, ADA KAPAL SELAM, ADA RANGKAIAN KOMUNIKASI CANGGIH - KALAU BENCANA ALAM PUN TAK BOLEH DIKESAN DAN AMBIL TINDAKAN?


ADAKAH JIKA SATU HARI NANTI RIBUT, PUTING BELIUNG, TAUFAN ATAU EMPANGAN PECAH YANG DAHSYAT AKAN MELANDA MALAYSIA - RAKYAT AKAN DIBIARKAN TANPA AMARAN DAN EVAKUASI?


SHOULD THERE BE A TYPHOON, HURRICANE, COMING TO MALAYSIA - WILL THEY BE IN TOTAL IGNORANCE AND PREPAREDLESS?

HAVE THEY CONSIDERED PREPARING FOR ANY OTHER KIND OF MAJOR DISASTER - LIKE A BURSTING DAM, ANOTHER FLOOD, HURRICANE, OR INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSION?

ADAKAH KERAJAAN UMNO/BN BERSIKAP SEBEGINI - SENGAJA MEMBIARKAN NASIB RAKYAT YANG RATA-RATA GOLONGAN MISKIN, NELAYAN YANG TINGGAL DALAM RUMAH-RUMAH BURUK DI TEPI KUALA DAN PINGGIR LAUT SEPERTI DI PULAU PINANG, KUALA MUDA, KEDAH, PERLIS DAN PERAK??? ADAKAH INI CARA MEREKA HENDAK MENYUSAHKAN RAKYAT DAN KEMUDIAN BERPURA-PURA KASIHAN LALU MENGHULURKAN BANTUAN YANG TIDAK SETIMPAL?

IS THIS INTENTION OF THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT OF IGNORING THE POOR PEOPLE LIVING ON THE FRINGES (LOW LYING AREAS, COASTAL FISHING COMMUNITIES OF WHICH THE MAJORITY IS POOR AND LIVING IN SQUALID CONDITIONS)?

Kami mempersoalkan perlakuan Abdullah Badawi sebagai Perdana Menteri & Najib sebagai Menteri Pertahanan yang diamanahkan untuk bertindak demi keselamatan rakyat!

Kita akan lihat adakah golongan rakyat miskin & nelayan yang kehilangan rumah, harta benda, sanak saudara, malah pukat dan bot-bot mereka - akan diberi pembelaan, PAMPASAN bagi kehilangan waris, harta-benda, mata pencarian; atau adakah selepas ini mereka akan dihalau keluar daripada kawasan pinggir laut dan terpaksa meninggalkan penempatan dan aktiviti nelayan selama-lamanya.

SAMPAI BILAKAH KITA AKAN MEMBIARKAN PEMIMPIN SEBEGINI LEMBAB, INCOMPETENT, INDIFFERENCE, JAHIL DAN TAK PEDULI TENTANG KESELAMATAN RAKYAT?

We don't believe or expect that World Bank will give out `FREE charity / financial assistance' - that is, any kind of relief program free from strict conditions, interest, more debt and imposed compulsary purchases of facilities or grains or free food!
Heck, World Bank is never generous...even the Relief Fund for Famine for African nations was tied to more import of western food & products (wheat, grains, military weapons, helicopters, machinery) and more national debts!
Even the rich nations like Japan is keen on taking such opportunity...



BENCANA ALAM - NATURAL DISASTER 

• Carian (Google) - Tsunami, gempa bumi, banjir, ribut, taufan, puting beliung; earthquake, flood, typhoon, hurricane, cyclone
  
  Yahoo! Directory - kategori berkaitan (related directory)
  
  
  
• Carian (Google) - Sistem Pemantauan Bencana Alam & Amaran
  Sistem Evakuasi dan Penyelamatan Mangsa Bencana Alam
  
  Natural Disasters Monitoring & Warning-Alert System
  Evacuation, Safety, Rescue, Alert, Medical
  
  Yahoo! Directory - kategori berkaitan (related directory)
  
  
  
  No warning system in place for tsunami-hit countries
  
  (ABC News Online)
  

  The countries devastated by huge waves caused by Sunday's powerful earthquake off the coast of Indonesia do not possess tsunami warning capability, a spokeswoman for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

  "To the best of our knowledge there is no warning system there," Carolyn Bell, a USGS spokeswoman, told AFP.

  "There are none, not that the USGS is aware of.

  "Now there may be some local ones, but it's not into a big network that we don't know about," she said.

  "It's one of these tragic things that make these hazards, which we can't stop, into disasters which hopefully technology will start to reduce."

  Ms Bell said creating a tsunami warning system for the region would be a challenge.

  "This crosses so many countries and so many boundaries in that part of the world and the warning system would have to be so geographically diverse," she said.

  "We're talking about educating people to what the warning means, what you have to do.

  "They're transient, they live in small villages, these things don't happen every day," she said.

  Ms Bell said the USGS supports the tsunami warning system in the Pacific but "of course this earthquake was not in the Pacific Ocean".

  She said there have been numerous aftershocks since Sunday's quake, which had a magnitude of 8.9, including some registering over 6.0 and 7.0 on the Richter scale.

  Some of the aftershocks are some distance from the quake's epicentre, which was located under the sea off the west coast of northern Sumatra.

  "The plate itself is 1,000 kilometres long, the fault right there," Ms Bell said. "It's on a plate boundary.

  "Usually the aftershocks, they say geographically, are within a radius of the epicentre but this one was such a huge, huge epicentre and a huge quake that the aftershocks are not next door," she said.

  Sunday's earthquake and tsunamis killed thousands in at least seven countries in southern and south-eastern Asia. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were among the hardest hit.

  -AFP

  
  
  
  

  Magnitude 9.0 - OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
  2004 December 26 00:58:49 UTC
  Preliminary Earthquake Report
  U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
  World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
  

  A great earthquake occurred at 00:58:49 (UTC) on Sunday, December 26, 2004. The magnitude 9.0 event has been located OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA.
  (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

  Magnitude 9.0
  Date-Time Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 00:58:49 (UTC)
  = Coordinated Universal Time Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 7:58:49 AM
  [WAKTU TEMPATAN DI SUMATERA & MALAYSIA]
  = local time at epicenter
  Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
  Location 3.244°N, 95.825°E
  Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
  Region OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
  Distances
  255 km (160 miles) SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
  315 km (195 miles) W of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia
  1260 km (790 miles) SSW of BANGKOK, Thailand
  1590 km (990 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
  

  Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 5.6 km (3.5 miles); depth fixed by location program
  Parameters Nst=223, Nph=223, Dmin=>999 km, Rmss=0.96 sec, Gp= 29°,
  M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=9
  Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
  

  Event ID usslav
  Felt Reports At least 4,500 people killed by the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Tsunamis killed at least 13,000 people in Sri Lanka, 3,500 in India, 866 in Thailand, 52 in Maldives, 44 in Malaysia, 30 in Myanmar, 8 in Somalia and 2 in Bangladesh. Tsunamis also occurred on the coasts of Cocos Island, Kenya, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles. The tsunami crossed into the Pacific Ocean and was recorded along the west coast of South and North America. The earthquake was felt (VIII) at Banda Aceh and (V) at Medan, Sumatra. It was also felt in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake.

  
  
  

  At Warning Center, Alert for the Quake, None for a Tsunami

  By MICHELE KAYAL and MATTHEW L. WALD

  Published: December 28, 2004

  HONOLULU, Dec. 27 - When experts at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu were first alerted that an earthquake had struck Sunday off Indonesia, they had no way of knowing that it had generated a devastating tsunami and no way to warn the people most likely to suffer.

  Tsunamis are rare in the Indian Ocean, which has no system for detecting them and alerting those in danger, and scientists do not have the tools to tell when an earthquake has created one.

  Not until the deadly wave hit Sri Lanka and the scientists in Honolulu saw news reports of the damage there did they recognize what was happening.

  "Then we knew there was something moving across the Indian Ocean," said Dr. Charles McCreery, the center's director.

  "We wanted to try to do something, but without a plan in place then, it was not an effective way to issue a warning, or to have it acted upon," Dr. McCreery said. "There would have still been some time - not a lot of time, but some time - if there was something that could be done in Madagascar, or on the coast of Africa."

  "One of the things that was running through my mind is just that our international group has in many past meetings had discussions about what can be done for other ocean basins," he said. "And I guess I was just wishing in retrospect that more progress had been made in that area."

  The sequence of events as knowledge of the earthquake, the tsunami and the destruction unfolded suggest the speed and precision of science and modern communication, as well as their limits. If there had been a warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, thousands of people might have had a chance to flee.

  The first notice of the earthquake that anyone at the Pacific tsunami center received was a computer-generated page set off by seismic sensors at 2:59 p.m. on Saturday Honolulu time. The immediate message received by people like Laura S. L. Kong, a Department of Commerce expert who is the head of a United Nations tsunami education center in Hawaii, included the time of the quake, latitude, longitude and an initial estimate of magnitude, about 8.0.

  Nobody was in the office of the Pacific tsunami center. But staff members who received the pages reached the office, took a closer look at available data and sent out a warning to a preset list of contacts around the Pacific.

  The center was advising of sea level changes in Fiji, Chile and California measured in inches, the echo of a distant event that had sloshed through the straits that connect the oceans. The warning center continued to refine its estimate of the quake, eventually raising it to a magnitude of 9.0, which is 10 times more powerful than the initial estimate of 8.0, because the scale is logarithmic.

  The Pacific center, operated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, faced two problems in recognizing what was occurring in the Indian Ocean and alerting potential victims. There is no direct connection between an earthquake magnitude and a resulting tsunami. Not all quakes under the ocean lift the ocean floor to displace the water needed to create a tsunami.

  For the Pacific, there are computer models to analyze the consequences of an earthquake, based on years of observations of previous quakes and tsunamis. For the Indian Ocean, there are no such models, according to Vasily V. Titov, a research oceanographer with the Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, based in Seattle. "They assemble quite a bit of data to get the right information and the right warning message," he said of such models.

  Another difficulty is that countries that have experienced tsunamis in recent memory are set up with warning systems. Hawaii, for example, has warning sirens, and the "weather radio" network of oceanographic administration can also carry tsunami warnings.

  Nor is a tsunami obvious as it races across an ocean at hundreds of miles per hour. In the open ocean, the wave may be only inches high. Boats on the ocean would feel almost nothing. Only when it hits the shallow water of a continental shelf does the wave rise to its destructive height.

  Dr. McCreery, the Honolulu center's director, said the initial estimate of the earthquake's magnitude, 8.0, would have been likely to generate a local tsunami.

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  Find more results for Indonesia and Tidal Waves

  (Page 2 of 2)

  "Based on it being an 8.0, we assumed the damage would be confined to Sumatra and would be a local tsunami event, one that strikes shore within minutes of the event," he said. "We weren't overly concerned at that point that it was something larger."

  But using another, sometimes more accurate method of measuring, Dr. McCreery said, the staff quickly determined that the magnitude had been closer to 8.5, more intense, but still only borderline for generating more distant damage. The center issued a follow-up bulletin.

  But it was not until they saw news reports of casualties in Sri Lanka that all that changed.

  Dr. McCreery spoke to the American ambassador to Sri Lanka, who wanted to know whether there were more giant waves expected. Then he had a conference call with a State Department official and embassy staff in Madagascar and Mauritius to address potential threats headed their way, and how the local authorities might be notified. But with no system in place, they would basically be scrambling.

  The Indian Ocean and some other ocean basins do not have tsunami warning systems. The Pacific basin has had a well-constructed warning system with instrumentation throughout the region and plans for communicating critical information since 1965, Dr. McCreery said.

  He said there have been frequent international discussions about improving systems for other oceans. "I know for certain after this event the entire global tsunami community will be looking for ways to implement better preparedness," he said.

  One of the few places in the Indian Ocean that got the message of the quake was Diego Garcia, a speck of an island with a United States Navy base, because the Pacific warning center's contact list includes the Navy. Finding the appropriate people in Sri Lanka or India was harder.

  The experts knew they were set up for the wrong ocean, but over a holiday weekend, Dr. Kong said, "it's tough to find contact information."

  "I think they made their best efforts to contact as many people they thought they could get to," she said. After pushing the button to send out the initial warning to contacts in the Pacific, where about 90 percent of the tsunamis are observed, "they're trying to think of personally who might they call, who might then know who to call."

  Last year a book on another Indonesian cataclysm, "Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded," by Simon Winchester, asserted that that volcano, which set off an even more deadly tsunami when it exploded in 1883, was the world's first international disaster, because new undersea telegraph cables spread the news around the world within a few minutes. With high-speed data links and the Internet, it takes fewer minutes now, but if the information spreads wide, it does not always go deep.

  Michele Kayal reported from Honolulu for this article, and Matthew L. Wald from Washington.

  
  
  Kenapa Najib masih lagi Menteri Pertahanan sedangkan rekodnya sangat buruk! Incompetent, lembab, tak peduli hal-ehwal rakyat, lebih suka duduk tunggu dan lihat! Dalam menangani bencana ini, kewibawaan Najib sudah jatuh dan beliau mengelak untuk kesekian kalinya!
  
  Lihatlah sudah berapa banyak helikopter Nuri, kapal terbang dan jet pejuang Tentera Udara (Air Force) yang menjunam jatuh dan kematian tentera kita! Najib masih lagi dengan cara `kita kekalkan besi-besi buruk ini sebab masih boleh pakai'....mana pergi peruntukan berjuta-juta ringgit untuk Pertahanan Negara - adakah Najib sudah habiskan untuk beli sebuah kapal selam dengan harga RM500 juta??'
  
  Bukan setakat itu, malah Kerajaan Malaysia (UMNO/Barisan Nasional) memang selalu mengabaikan nasib malang rakyat bawahan dan menyebelahi pihak kapitalis terutama golongan Kroni dan Keparat Korporat.
  Contohnya: pencemaran dan kemusnahan alam yang parah dilakukan oleh kilang-kilang industri seperti di Juru, Pulau Pinang, Seberang Perai; kemusnahan sumber perikanan akibat paya-paya bakau ditebang dan diambil oleh syarikat-syarikat besar untuk dijadikan kolam ternakan udang harimau; kemusnahan peralatan nelayan tradisional dan kepupusan ikan akibat perbuatan pengusaha pukat tunda (trawlers) yang dimiliki oleh tauke-tauke besar.
  Di kawasan bandar Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang - rumah-rumah dan perkampungan Melayu turun-temurun habis dirobohkan atau sengaja dibakar untuk merampas tanah mereka.
  
  Lihat - Isu permasalahan rakyat bawahan

  PEMULIHAN DAN PAMPASAN KEPADA MANGSA BENCANA

  Kami mahu memastikan kerajaan Malaysia memberi pampasan setimpal dengan kehilangan waris, kemusnahan harta benda, dan pencarian rezeki yang terjejas teruk oleh nelayan, petani, peniaga kecil, dan pengusaha industri desa yang terbabit.
  
  Kami akan terus mendesak kerajaan Malaysia membantu membangunkan semula kawasan penempatan yang diduduki rakyat miskin ini dan memulihkan komuniti kampung, nelayan, dan petani hingga ke tahap memuaskan.
  Samada kawasan pantai di Pulau Pinang, Balik Pulau, Pulau Betong, pinggir laut Kedah, kawasan Kuala Kedah, Langkawi, Pulau Payar, Perlis, Perak - bencana ini tidak akan boleh dijadikan ALASAN untuk mengambil tanah bagi tujuan selain penempatan rakyat semula iaitu pembangunan rumah-rumah yang telah musnah dan pemulihan aktiviti komuniti, nelayan, pertanian, dan industri tempatan.
  
  *Projek selain itu yang akan dibantah: Pembinaan bangunan kedai, pusat komersil, kilang-kilang, pusat membeli-belah, jeti, marina, dermaga, kargo, hotel atau resort, kawasan pembuangan sampah & buangan industri, kolam ternakan udang harimau, dan sebagainya yang akan menghapuskan penempatan asal rakyat dan kawasan pertanian, perusahaan, sumber laut & perikanan.

  
  
  Beberapa jenis BENCANA yang kemungkinan besar berlaku di Malaysia pada bila-bila masa:

• EMPANGAN PECAH (BURST DAMS)Empangan lombong di Guyana yang pecah lalu mengalirkan bahan toksik cyanide (sykt Cambior Canada) - spilling 3.2 billion litres of cyanide-laced water into Essiquibo River.

  Kemusnahan alam yang telah berlaku:

• Kemusnahan Tasik Chini
• Kemusnahan hutan paya bakau dan kawasan perairan Malaysia

  EDISI SIASAT!
  

• Bencana Alam di Malaysia (Jabatan Kaji Cuaca)
  Gambar tanah runtuh, banjir, ribut, petir, puting peliung (cyclone)
  
  
• BANJIR KILAT YANG MELANDA KUALA LUMPUR - 2004
  
  
• TANAH RUNTUH (LAND SLIDES) DI LEBUHRAYA UTARA-SELATAN
  
  
• KEMALANGAN JALANRAYA KERAP BERLAKU DI LEBUHRAYA PANTAI TIMUR YANG BARU DIBUKA
  
  
• KEMALANGAN JALANRAYA SEMEMANGNYA ADALAH KEJADIAN SETIAP HARI DI MANA-MANA TEMPAT DI MALAYSIA!  
  
  
• MENTERI KERJA RAYA - SAMY VELLU - MAKAN RASUAH BANYAK?
  
  
• DISASTER AWARENESS IN MALAYSIA IS VERY LOW (EXCEPT HIGHWAY AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS) AND SYSTEM OF `PRE-EMPTIVE' SAFETY-RESCUE-EVACUATION IS NON-EXISTENT!
  
  
  Tanah runtuh di Cameron
  
  Kebakaran bangunan
  
  
  
  Maklumbalas, Feedback

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