M 5.1 Earthquake In Malang, A Number Of Buildings In Blitar Were Damaged

DOK VIA BNPB/ Photo: The roof of the terrace of the An Nur prayer room in Binangun District, Blitar Regency, was damaged and fell to the ground after the M5.1 earthquake in the southwest of Malang Regency, East Java

JAKARTA - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 occurred in Malang Regency, East Java. The earthquake was centered at 8.84 South Latitude and 112.51 East Longitude or 78 kilometers southwest of Malang Regency.

Plt. Head of National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Abdul Muhari said the earthquake caused damage to a number of buildings in Blitar Regency.

"The Blitar Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) reported that the earthquake shock was indeed felt for 2-4 seconds in Blitar Regency," said Abdul Muhari in his statement, Friday, October 22.

Based on reports received, the damage occurred to the roof of the terrace of the An Nur Mosque building which fell to the ground in Binangun District, Blitar Regency.

Other damage to buildings include, 1 Sarang Village office building was reported to be lightly damaged, 1 house unit was lightly damaged, 1 Sidorejo Village art hall building was slightly damaged and 1 Binangun Subdistrict office building was lightly damaged.

Abdul Muhari said that until now there have been no reports of casualties.

"The BPBD of Blitar Regency continues to carry out assessments and coordination with cross-agency to collect data on the impacts caused by the earthquake," he said.

Abdul Muhari appealed to the public to remain calm and not be influenced by issues that cannot be justified.

"In addition, the public is asked to avoid buildings that are cracked or damaged by the earthquake and always ensure that their residential buildings are earthquake-resistant," he said.

As is known, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) stated that the M 5.1 earthquake in Malang Regency was an intermediate type of earthquake due to the subduction activity of the Indo-Australian plate against the Eurasian plate.

The results of the analysis of the source mechanism show that the earthquake has a thrust fault mechanism.

According to the BMKG, this earthquake was also felt in the areas of Ponorogo, Malang, Pasuruan, Nganjuk, Mojokerto, Pacitan, Lumajang, Jember and Trenggalek. As of Friday, October 22, 2021 at 09:43 WIB, BMKG monitoring results have not shown any aftershock activity.