VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia was hit by another disaster. Not long after the earthquake in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara and in Palu & Donggala, Central Sulawesi, tsunami in Sunda Strait hit Banten and South Lampung Provinces on Saturday (23/12).

Until Sunday (23/12), there were 222 people died, 843 wounded, and 30 missing in the disaster. The tsunami damaged many buildings and infrastructure.

Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency BMKG had confirmed that the tsunami was caused by vulcanic activity and eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau that had been seen since Saturday evening. This condition had been warned and the volcano was given alert status since June 2018.

The activity of Mount Anak Krakatau keeps increasing since June 18 2018. In the previous months, from July until November, eruptions keep happening. The latest one was on December 22, which was suspected to cause the dreadful tsunami in Banten and Lampung.

The tsunami which killed hundreds had become global concern. Some foreign media reported the disaster. Condolences and sympathy kept coming from some world leaders.

Series of disasters actually never makes Indonesian weak and desperate. Disaster must be faced, overcome, and seen – simply as a divine trial, so that Indonesians can be stronger in facing greater challenges. We could see the Japanese, who turned into an advanced country despite of frequent earthquakes.

Disasters which often hit Indonesia must be a lesson for her to avoid and anticipate them. Indonesians must stay alerted and ready to face the possibility of other disasters. Among others is by having simulations, so that the people will know what to do during disasters. Besides that, proper early warning system must be ready, so that both the people and local government can be alerted and save themselves before the disaster happens. This is expected to lower down casualties in disasters.