Entering The Tsunami Red Zone Area, Elementary School Students In Padang Learn Disaster Mitigation

BPBD installed disaster evacuation signs around the coast area that had been hit by earthquakes and tsunamis in Suak Ribee Village, Aceh (ANTARA)

Padang City Government, West Sumatra provides education to elementary school (SD) students in the local city about disaster mitigation as an effort to minimize disaster risk.

Head of the Prevention and Preparedness Division of the Padang BPBD, Edrian Edward, said that this activity aims to provide understanding to students of procedures for carrying out independent evacuations when an earthquake occurred in Padang City.

After conducting the socialization, this student carried out a simulation by alarming the earthquake marker and the students simultaneously hid under the table. When the earthquake was over, they marched to the field agreed as a gathering point.

"After arriving there, they counted their friends and after complete then walked together to higher ground to evacuate," said Edrian, quoted on Thursday, June 22.

He said that through the simulation they understood and thank God these school children understood and understood what was being socialized. Unlike adults, elementary school children are high in memory and will always remember what to do in the event of an earthquake and tsunami.

According to him, this disaster education was also included in the extra culinary program at school but was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said this disaster education was needed for schools in tsunami-prone zones or those with close proximity to the coastline.

In 2023, five urban villages will be included in the Padang City BPBD disaster response program, namely Batang Arau Village, Air Manis, Seberang Padang, Bukit Gado-Gado and Kampung Pondok.

Previously, there were 17 urban villages in Padang City that were given socialization and disaster simulations by the Padang City BPBD with a target for urban villages in the red zone.

One of the disaster socialization activities was carried out at Tirtonadi Elementary School involving elementary school students in Batang Arau Village, South Padang District, West Sumatra.

Previously, the Head of the BMKG Class I Geophysics Station, Padang Suaidi Ahadi, appealed to residents of Padang City, West Sumatra, to recognize the pattern of earthquake shocks that occurred as a disaster mitigation effort.

"This needs to be done by Padang residents because this city is a coastal area that is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis," he said.

According to him, as an area located in the Megathrust Mentawai area, residents of Padang City must learn so that they can distinguish between the earthquakes that occurred. If a strong earthquake occurs, swinging and preventing humans from standing, it means that the earthquake already has a magnitude of 7 and an upper magnitude and has the potential for a tsunami.

If the earthquake was vertical shaking, it would indicate that the earthquake was no more than 100 kilometers from the standing location.

"Earthquakes with vertical shocks have the potential for tsunamis to tend to be small," he said.

While the earthquake was felt very strong and made it unable to stand, the potential for the tsunami to land only took 20 minutes to 30 minutes.

"At this time, of course, it must be used to carry out mitigation efforts," he said.