REGIONAL SUMMARY:
For the first week of 2025, the ASEAN region experience 19 significant disasters, including floods, landslides, and storms. Indonesia was affected by these disasters. The Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) of Indonesia reported flooding, landslides, and storm events in Aceh, Riau, North Sumatra, South Kalimantan, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, and Central Java.
HIGHLIGHT:
In Indonesia, persistent heavy rainfall resulted to widespread flooding in South Kalimantan. BNPB reported more than 16K people (about 5.7K families) were affected by flooding in Hulu Sungai Utara. In addition, 4.8K houses, nine kilometres of road, 39 schools, 17 government offices, and 28 worship places were also impacted by the flooding. Likewise, prolonged heavy rainfall and overflowing of rivers caused several flooding events in East Java. BNPB reported a total of 11.4K individuals or 2.6K households were flooded. The most heavily affected area was Pasuruan where the overflowing of Welang and Rejoso Rivers contributed affected almost 10K people as reported by BNPB. Authorities immediately mobilized resources to provide support to the affected communities and address the situation.
HYDRO-METEO-CLIMATOLOGICAL:
For the past week, data from the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) indicates a 7-day average rainfall ranging from medium to high across Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), Philippines, and parts of Central Viet Nam. As of this reporting, there is no active tropical cyclone being monitored in the ASEAN region (JTWC).
GEOPHYSICAL:
Three (3) significant earthquakes (M>5.0) were recorded by Indonesia’s Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Mount Semeru (alert level II), Lewotobi Laki-laki (alert level III), Marapi (level II), and Ibu (alert level III) in Indonesia, and Mayon Volcano (alert level 1), Taal (alert level 1), and Kanlaon (alert level 3) in the Philippines reported recent volcanic activity according to the Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi PVMBG and PHIVOLCS.
OUTLOOK:
According to the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), for the coming week, Wetter conditions are predicted over much of the central and western Maritime Continent. Cooler than usual temperature is expected over much of the northern ASEAN region. There is a small increase in chance of very heavy rainfall over the western parts of Java. La Niña-like conditions predicted for January (most models predict these conditions not to persist long enough to declare a La Niña event.
Sources:
ASEAN Disaster Monitoring & Response System (DMRS); ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC); Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC);
Indonesia: BNPB, BMKG, PVMBG;
Philippines: PHIVOLCS;
Various news agencies.
