Who could ever forget the Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy that had killed more than 230,000 people in more than a dozen countries in the South-East Asia region? One of the most affected countries in this incident was Indonesia.Located in the Pacific Ring Of Fire, Indonesia is a home to more than 150 active volcanoes and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

The latest tragedy to have affected the country is the eruption of Mount Merapi and also a deadly tsunami triggered by an underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 . Mount Merapi , Indonesia's most active volcano, started showing signs of large volcanic activity and pressure a few days before its eruption. Despite various warnings by scientist for immediate evacuation, some villagers still refused to budge as they were afraid of losing their homes and livelihood. Up to date, there have been reports of at least 18 fatalities including a two month old baby. Officials and medicals volunteers are still searching for bodies of missing people that may be buried underneath the thick volcanic ash from the eruption.

On the same day itself, an underwater earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that happened near the islands of Mentawai had triggered waves 10 feet high, sweeping away homes and causing the death of more than 113 people.

In my opinion, Indonesian officials should implement more strategies for handling such Natural disasters. Rescues should be carried out at a faster pace, and warnings should be given out in a more urgent manner and more aid should be given to the victims. Government officials should also address the seriousness and dangers of these natural disasters so that the lowly educated will have a deeper understanding about this issue and will be more cooperative during evacuations in future events. In this way, more lives will be saved and Indonesia will be more efficient and effective in handling occurrence of natural disasters And as Singapore citizens we should be really thankful that these disasters are a rarity in Singapore,but that does not mean that we should take things for granted as mother nature is unpredictable.

Labels: Fareez Shah