With upgrades to the country’s weather forecasting system, tsunami and earthquake warnings could be issued within six minutes of an incident occurring, says Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup (pic).
The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that currently it takes around eight minutes for the alert to be issued after an incident has been detected; however, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) is aiming to cut down the time to six minutes from this year.
“In line with its ongoing commitment to strengthening national disaster preparedness, beginning 2026, MetMalaysia aims to accelerate the dissemination time for earthquake and tsunami warnings from eight minutes to six minutes after an incident is detected, while also increasing weather forecasting accuracy from 82% to 85%.”
He said MetMalaysia has continuously strengthened the effectiveness of the Early Warning System (EWS) to ensure weather-related disaster alerts are disseminated swiftly, accurately and comprehensively, including to communities in rural areas.
The government, he said, had allocated RM242mil for the EWS upgrades, including for the construction of weather radars.
Additionally, another RM18mil has been allocated under the 13thMalaysia Plan for the development of the National Tsunami Early Warning System.
“At the same time, the Numerical Weather Prediction system is being upgraded through the use of the latest High Performance Computing technology, as well as the application of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and big data analytics,” he said during Question Time.
He said with these enhancements, high-resolution weather forecasts can be generated 14 days in advance, allowing weather patterns in high-risk areas to be identified earlier, more accurately and in a more targeted manner, including in rural areas.
He said MetMalaysia will continue to strengthen its information delivery systems through various communication channels, including SMS, the myCuaca application, the MetMalaysia website, social media, radio and television broadcasts, as well as strategic cooperation with National Disaster Management Agency, local authorities and district disaster management committees.
He was responding to a question from Jelebu MP Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias on the effectiveness of the EWS in delivering rapid and comprehensive disaster alerts, especially for rural areas.
