It Is Interesting To Watch, The Earthquake In The South Of Lombok-Sumbawa Needs To Be Watched Out For

JAKARTA - Head of the Earthquake and Tsunami Mitigation Division of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Daryono reminded that a series of tectonic earthquakes in the south of Lombok-Sumbawa which were triggered by the subduction of the Eurasian plate needed to be watched out for.

"The series of earthquakes south of Lombok-Sumbawa is interesting to observe considering that the Megathrust Sumba segment is relatively quiet with major earthquakes when compared to the Megathrust Segments of East Java, Central Java and West Java," said Daryono in Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Friday, April 16.

Since Thursday, April 15 to Friday, April 16, there have been 6 tectonic earthquakes in the Sumba Megathrust zone in the south of Lombok and Sumbawa.

The mainshock as well as the first earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 occurred on Thursday at 17.36.22 WIB. The epicenter of the earthquake is located at coordinates 10.69 South Latitude and 116.94 East Longitude, to be precise at sea at a distance of 216 km south of Taliwang City, West Sumbawa Regency, NTB at a depth of 44 km.

The earthquake was a shallow earthquake triggered by the subduction activity of the Indo-Australian Plate which plunged under the Eurasian Plate precisely at the contact pieces between the plates or what we commonly know as the megathrust zone.

Earthquake shocks were felt in the Mataram, Lombok and West Sumbawa areas on the MMI III intensity scale. Even though the depth is shallow, it does not have the potential for a tsunami because the magnitude is relatively small to become a tsunami potential earthquake.

BMKG monitoring results until Friday, April 16, 2021 at 10.42.05 WIB there have been 5 aftershocks.

The biggest aftershock occurred on Friday at 10.42.05 WIB with a magnitude of 5.4 with a depth of 21 km. This aftershock was felt in Sumbawa on the MMI III intensity scale. Meanwhile, in Mataram and Denpasar, the intensity scale was II MMI

Daryono explained, BMKG records show that there were not many strong earthquakes triggered by the southern Lombok-Sumbawa subduction zone activity, one of which was the destructive Bali Earthquake on January 21, 1917.

The earthquake, which was centered in the southeast of Bali Island, had a very strong impact on the MMI VIII-IX intensity scale. This earthquake is popularly referred to as the “gejer Bali” or “Bali shook” because this earthquake killed a very large number of people, as many as 1,500 people died, 64,000 houses were damaged, including several palaces, 10,000 rice barns were damaged, and 2,431 temples were damaged, including Pura Besakih as well. having damaged.

According to the Soloviev and Go (1974) report, the 1917 Bali earthquake shaking triggered a tsunami that was observed on the southeast coast of Bali Island, such as Klungkung and Benoa. The run-up height of the tsunami that occurred reached two meters.

"Regarding the series of earthquakes in the south of Lombok-Sumbawa, which have currently been recorded six times, of course we should be vigilant. We hope that this earthquake activity will not continue, but will soon decay and stop its activities," said Daryono.