Asian neighbours pledge early warning system
Indonesia said today it would set up an early warning system for disasters with its neighbours, as it raised its death toll from last week’s earthquake and tsunami to 94,081.
The December 26 disaster killed nearly 140,000 people in 11 countries in the Indian Ocean basin – which has no system in place to warn of the impending disaster, as is common in the Pacific Ocean.
“Indonesia and other neighbouring countries plan to set up an early warning to prevent natural disasters, including earthquake and tsunamis,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.
“This would be a kind of pre-emptive measure.”
Yudhoyono did not specify which countries would be involved.
Regional leaders are expected to endorse establishing such a system during a donors’ conference on Thursday in Jakarta, organised through the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
