The Ministry Of Social Affairs Sends A Team To Respond To The Shadow Of A Megathrust Earthquake In Mentawai, West Sumatra

Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Tri Rismaharini. (doc. Setkab)

The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) sent a team to map areas that could potentially be affected by the earthquake and tsunami of the megathrust zone on Mentawai Island, West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Tri Rismaharini said the team that was dispatched consisted of the elected Ministry of Social Disaster Preparedness (Tagana) personnel and together with a team from the Meteorology, Climatology, Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

"Last night, my staff with BMKG left for the Mentawai to map it, a megathrust activity-prone zone," said Social Minister Risma after a visit to the Children's Social Rehabilitation Center for Special Protection Alyatama Jambi, Wednesday, August 21, which was confiscated by Antara.

The Minister of Social Affairs revealed that every community starting from the village, village and sub-district levels, in the areas included in the map, will then be trained in emergency techniques to save themselves from the impact of the earthquake and tsunami by the Tagana team.

In addition, he continued, the team will also prepare the technical matters needed, such as evacuation zone facilities referring to the results of the modeling of the BMKG. This has been done by Tagana for residents of 1,132 Disaster Preparedness Villages established by the Ministry of Social Affairs throughout Indonesia.

"Untuk Mentawai, ketika sudah siap (peta dan kampung siaga bencana), paling tidaknya masyarakat sudah paham bagaimana teknik evakuasi diri secara mandiri," ujar Mensos Risma.

The posts for displaced residents during the disaster will also be prepared early by the team. According to the Minister of Social Affairs, previously the post was centered in the offices of the governor, regent, and sub-district head, but now the location is prepared to spread in almost every village.

The goal, he said, was to shorten the distribution of aid to residents affected by the disaster, as well as accelerate efforts to provide assistance in the event of an escalation of conditions in the field. Including, he continued, the scheme for establishing emergency tents equipped with public kitchens has also begun to be prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs Tagana.

"So you can no longer model like you used to, you are constrained like that. Contrasted, for example in district offices or in provinces. Because sometimes only one sub-district, in one district it takes 2-3 hours. Handling disaster victims must be fast," explained Social Minister Risma.

The BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center reported that Indonesia was surrounded by 13 megathrust zones based on the map of earthquake hazard sources (PuSGen) in 2017. This Megathrust is a zone for Earth's tectonic inter-memplettes that has the potential to trigger strong earthquakes and tsunamis.

Of the 13 zones, the megathrust zone activity of the Sunda Strait segment and the Mentawai-Siberut segment are still the biggest danger that can occur at any time because of the two segments, there have been no major earthquakes in the hundreds of years according to BMKG records.

The Mentawai-Siberut segment megathrust zone is west of Sumatra, while the Sunda Strait segment is partially spread in the South Java-Bali, while the megathrust zone.

The Seismic Gap Megathrust (SGM) of Mentawai-Siberut potential 8.9 magnitudes and the Sunda Strait has the potential to reach 8.7 magnitudes. Therefore, scientists, including the BMKG, continue to intensify the importance of mitigation efforts to the central, regional and community governments because the disaster is only a matter of time.