Indonesia to Develop Earthquake Early Warning System with Japan's Help

Jakarta, Sept. 22 (Jiji Press)--The Indonesian government plans to develop an earthquake early warning system in an effort to reduce damage from temblors that frequently hit the Southeast Asian nation.

Receiving support from Japan, which has already introduced such a system, Indonesia plans to conduct trial runs for the envisioned system in Jakarta, the capital of the country, and some other regions by 2030, aiming to roll it out nationwide in the future.

Just like Japan, Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, so the island country is prone to earthquakes, and damage tend to be severe due to low quake resistance of buildings. More than 140 people were killed in a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck off the island of Flores in the province of East Nusa Tenggara in mid-August.

A Japan-Indonesia joint team set up partly using Tokyo's official development assistance program launched research in three provinces in the western part of Java Island, including the Jakarta capital region, in 2025 under a five-year test project.

It aims to develop low-cost earthquake observation equipment and a system that automatically halts factories and train operations simultaneously with earthquake detection.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]