If you received an early tsunami warning text message
from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) this morning,
you may exhale a sigh of relief since the SMS explosion was caused by a system
fault.
The message, which was sent by BMKG and the Ministry
of Information and Communications (Kominfo), was sent to Indonesian phones at
around 10:36 a.m., and contained information about an early tsunami warning
following an 8.5-magnitude earthquake on June 4, 2021 for East Java, West Nusa
Tenggara (NTB), Central Java, Bali, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
Note that we’re not even in June 2021 yet.
BMKG explained this afternoon in a statement that the
information in the text is inaccurate.
“There was a mistake in the system for transmitting
earthquake information and tsunami early warnings over the SMS channel,” the
statement read, adding that a follow-up clarification was issued promptly
through the channel.
BMKG and Kominfo have both begun investigations to
uncover the root cause of the issue. The public should likewise remain calm,
according to the agency.
“The circulating information (in the fraudulent text
message) is not a forecast of an earthquake that may occur in the near future,
because there is no technology that can precisely and accurately forecast when,
where, and how severe an earthquake will occur at this time,” BMKG stated.