AT 04:23AM, THE AHA CENTRE’S WHATSAPP GROUP WAS ALIGHT WITH MESSAGES, AS STAFF IN JAKARTA AND BEYOND WERE ROUSED FROM THEIR SLEEP BY THE NEWS OF AN EARTHQUAKE. THIS SIMULATED EARTHQUAKE EVENT FORMED THE BEGINNING OF THE AHA CENTRE’S EXERCISE WITH GIDRM AND SDC.

EXERCISE

 A 7.9 Magnitude earthquake was recorded near Pontianak with 10 Km depth. Disaster Monitoring and Analysis will update if there is a tsunami advisory issued.

EXERCISE

Twelve minutes later, another message appears on the mobile phone screens of the group.

EXERCISE

Given the shallow depth, tsunami warning may be triggered for Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

These alerts were followed by a request to gather at the AHA Centre’s Emergency Operations Centre at 7 a.m. and series of internal coordination meetings for the next 36 hours. For the first time ever, the AHA Centre was involved in a two-day scenario, responding to a fictitious large-scale disaster which presumably affected three ASEAN Member-States. Every few hours, new injects were given and complicate the situation. The injects include, among others, a biohazards leakage at an industrial area in Pontianak and a kidnapping case of the ASEAN-ERAT member.

This unique scenario helped staff to practice their internal preparedness and response mechanisms. At the end of the exercise, the AHA Centre evaluated its response mechanism, noting gaps and weaknesses, and discussed the solutions that could support the improvement of the organisation’s readiness in responding to complex disaster situations. This interesting and engaging exercise was facilitated by the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Written by : Shintya Kurniawan | Photo : AHA Centre