印尼位于环太平洋火山带，面临很多自然威胁，如地震、海啸、火山爆发、洪水和干旱等。过去30年来，印尼平均每年经历290次重大自然灾害。2004年的印度洋海啸，造成四个国家约22万人死亡，仅印尼就有16.7万人死亡，造成100亿美元的损失。
自2004年印度洋发生重大海啸以来，印尼政府改革了相关法律、政策和机构，以更好地管理灾害风险。印尼现在为每个易受灾害影响的城市都制定了应急计划，应急计划中明确了脆弱点、救灾响应和全面备灾工作。2007年，政府颁布了《灾害管理法》，将灾害管理和预防纳入灾害管理响应措施之中。2008年，印尼设立国家灾害管理局，取代了之前社会事务部下属的国家自然灾害局，新的机构直接向总统负责，其局长由总统直接任命。新的转变加强了该国的灾害管理机构，增加了地区分支机构和代表。尽管取得了进展，但仍需在地方一级加强工作并把减灾纳入政府部门工作中。
根据印尼2007年《灾害管理法》，省和地方行政当局被授权在危机期间领导灾害管理工作，国家灾害管理局与军队在被请求时方可介入。
2004年印度洋海啸除国家层面响应外，还有区域层面的响应。目前，相关区域已建立了海啸预警系统，通过印尼、印度和澳大利亚的三个区域观察中心发出警报，此外还有由26个国家海啸信息中心组成的网络。
Indonesia is located in the Pacific Rim volcanic belt and faces many natural threats, such as earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, flood and drought. Over the past 30 years, Indonesia has experienced an average of 290 major natural disasters every year. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed about 220000 people in four countries, 167000 in Indonesia alone, causing a loss of US $10 billion.
Since the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the Indonesian government has reformed relevant laws, policies and institutions to better manage disaster risks. Indonesia has now developed emergency plans for each disaster prone City, which identify vulnerabilities, disaster response and comprehensive disaster preparedness. In 2007, the government promulgated the disaster management act to integrate disaster management and prevention into disaster management response measures. In 2008, Indonesia established the National Disaster Management Bureau, replacing the former national natural disaster Bureau under the Ministry of social affairs. The new agency is directly responsible to the president, and its director is directly appointed by the president. The new transformation has strengthened the country's disaster management institutions and increased regional branches and representatives. Despite the progress made, there is still a need to strengthen work at the local level and integrate disaster reduction into the work of government departments.
According to Indonesia's disaster management law of 2007, provincial and local administrations are authorized to lead disaster management during crisis, and the national disaster management authority and the army can intervene when requested.
In addition to the national response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, there was also a regional response. At present, tsunami early warning systems have been established in relevant regions, and warnings have been issued through three regional observation centers in Indonesia, India and Australia. In addition, there is a network composed of 26 national Tsunami Information Centers.
