BMKG Records 646 Earthquakes Occurred During 2021, An Increase Of 518 Times From 2020

Weather Illustration (Max LaRochell / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded 646 earthquakes that occurred in Indonesia throughout January 2021 with various magnitudes and depths.

BMKG Coordinator for Earthquake and Tsunami Mitigation Daryono said, when compared to last year, the number had increased by 518 earthquakes.

In general, earthquake activity in January 2021 was dominated by small earthquakes with a strength of less than 5.0 which occurred 619 times. Meanwhile, significant earthquakes with a magnitude above 5.0 occurred 27 times.

"The felt earthquake occurred 85 times, which is also higher than January 2020, which was 54 times", said Daryono as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, February 2.

In January 2021, earthquakes occurred almost every day in Indonesia. Even on January 14, 2021, there were 8 earthquakes a day.

Of the hundreds of earthquakes, there were three destructive earthquakes, namely the Bahodopi earthquake, Morowali, Central Sulawesi with a magnitude of 4.9 on January 4, 2021.

In addition, the Majene and Mamuju earthquakes, West Sulawesi, with magnitudes of 5.9 and 6.2 on January 14 and 15, 2021 caused 105 people to die and thousands of houses were damaged, as well as the Talaud earthquake, North Sulawesi, with a magnitude of 7.1 which damaged several houses.

From the seismicity map, the active zones of the earthquake in January 2021 can be identified, namely Aceh, Nias, Bengkulu, Lampung, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Maluku Sea, and Seram. Earthquake activity in this active zone can still continue until February 2021 but can also end and shift to other regions.

"With the increase in earthquake activity in January 2021 and information on earthquake active zones, we urge people to remain calm and not panic but be alert", he said.

According to him, this information must be responded to with concrete mitigation efforts, such as building earthquake-resistant houses, arranging tsunami-safe coastal spaces, learning how to survive an earthquake and tsunami, independent tsunami evacuation, and increasing the ability to respond to early warnings.