Residents Worried For Susulan After The M 6.1 Earthquake, Garut Regent: We Have Prepared An Ambulance At 67 Puskesmas

The house collapsed due to an earthquake in Jatisari Village, Cisompet, Garut Regency, West Java, Saturday, December 13, 2022. (ANTARA-HO-Camat Cisompet)

The Garut Regency Government (Pemkab) dispatched officers from related agencies and sub-district and village levels to assess the level of damage caused by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 in Garut on Saturday, December 3.

"We have coordinated, I am with the Police Chief and the Dandim to take steps in the field, collect data, assessments," said Garut Regent Rudy Gunawan through a press release received in Garut, Sunday.

He said that the earthquake that occurred in Garut on Saturday, December 3 at 16.49 WIB was felt by most Garut people and there had been panic because they were worried about an earthquake in Cianjur.

After the earthquake, the Garut Regent directly instructed the relevant officials, especially BPBD, then the sub-district heads to immediately report what was damaged or other impacts in the disaster incident and ensure that there were no casualties.

"We have also checked the affected areas in Bungbulang District, and all of them have submitted reports to the sub-district head, almost all village heads, especially those in Garut, which is close to the sea, there were no casualties," he said.

He said the temporary report on the impact of the earthquake was that several houses were cracked, as well as damaged school buildings whose current damage levels were still being examined by officers in the field.

"There are houses that are cracked, some have collapsed ceilings, some schools are damaged. Now they are being assessed," he said.

After the earthquake, according to him, the handling had been carried out properly in accordance with the direction from BNPB to respond quickly and immediately take disaster mitigation steps so as not to cause greater losses or casualties.

He said, apart from deploying joint officers to check the affected areas, he also instructed all health centers and hospitals to serve the community, because it was also reported that there were injured residents.

"We have now also opened a health center and prepared an ambulance at 67 health centers," he said.

He added that conditions in Garut, especially in the southern region which is close to the coastal area and bordered Cianjur Regency, are completely under control, as well as joint officers continue to be on standby to take disaster mitigation measures for the community.

However, said the regent, the conditions felt by the people of Garut after the earthquake were concerns that aftershocks could occur at any time.

"The current condition is that there are concerns about aftershocks, such as what happened in Cianjur," he said.