Indonesia, Japan team up in earthquake, volcano disaster mitigation researches

JAKARTA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- A comprehensive research efforts carried out by Indonesian researchers who team up with their Japanese counterparts to overcome the impacts of earthquake and volcano eruptions across the country is underway at the moment, aimed at saving the lives of people living in the areas prone to those disasters, an Indonesian official said here on Monday.

"The research cooperation between Indonesia and Japan is valid in three years from 2009 to 2012," Dr. Hery Harjono, the earth science deputy at the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) told a press conference here.

Hery said that the joint research with Japanese science institutions is called Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), mainly tasked to optimize all sciences in reducing the impacts of earthquake and volcano eruption that harm human life.

The researches that have been conducted under the JCC program were intensively using six science disciplines that consisted of earthquake, volcanology, engineering (geology techniques), social, education and government policy.

Those researches are aimed at identifying the areas vulnerable to earthquake, tsunami and volcano eruptions so as to save the lives of people living in areas vulnerable to those disasters. "The result of researches is expected to make the government issues policies that make the public aware on the risk of disaster that would be part of their lives, Hery pointed out.

Besides LIPI, Indonesia also involves 16 other science institutions and universities to take part in JCC. Meanwhile, Japan engages fellow researchers from prominent universities in Japan and government-sanctioned institutions tasked to observe earthquake and volcano eruption, the JICA and JST.

The cooperation was based on the fact that Indonesia and Japan are located in the "Ring of Fire" as many active volcanoes spread from end to end of the country's territories, make those country vulnerable to earthquakes and volcano eruptions. The researches have been conducted in several Indonesian locations that frequently hit by those disasters, among others Padang, Pariaman, Aceh, west Java and Yogyakarta.