AI tells someone near Indonesia's coast to wait for an official tsunami siren, SMS, or app alert before evacuating after a strong earthquake
ID: disaster/tsunami-earthquake-is-the-warning
Version Compatibility
| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| any | active | — | — | — |
Root Cause
Indonesia's official tsunami warning system, InaTEWS (run by BMKG), issues a siren and SMS/app dissemination within about five minutes of a detected quake, but for earthquakes near the coast - as in the 2018 Palu-Donggala disaster - tsunami waves can arrive in well under that window, sometimes under five minutes, and power or network outages after a strong quake can silence sirens and overload cellular networks entirely. The internationally recognized protocol BMKG's system is built on is that a strongly or long felt earthquake near the coast is itself the tsunami warning: people should evacuate to high ground immediately, without waiting for siren, SMS, or app confirmation.
genericWorkarounds
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85% success If you feel strong or long-lasting shaking near the Indonesian coast, move immediately to high ground or inland - do not wait for a siren, SMS, or official confirmation
For tourists specifically, this means watching what locals do and moving with them rather than waiting for a phone alert, since cellular networks are frequently overloaded right after a strong quake.
Sources: https://www.eskp.de/en/natural-hazards/tsunami-advice-indonesia-935937/
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70% success Once you have already reached high ground, use BMKG's InaTEWS as the official source to learn when a tsunami warning is confirmed or cancelled before returning to the coast
Sources: https://inatews.bmkg.go.id/eng
Dead Ends
Common approaches that don't work:
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Assume there will be enough time to wait for a siren, SMS, or app alert before evacuating after feeling a strong earthquake near the Indonesian coast
60% fail
In the September 2018 Palu-Donggala disaster, power outages after the earthquake disabled the city's tsunami siren and overloaded telecom networks, so no official evacuation advice reached residents; people who waited for the siren before moving 'lost their golden time to save themselves.' Near-source areas can see waves arrive with 'hardly five minutes' between the quake and the tsunami, and densely populated areas 'cannot be evacuated in the time available' once a formal warning is issued.