Gelar Apple Nasional Siaga Gempa Megathrust, BNPB: Bapada Namun Tidak Perlu Tak Berlebihan

Head of BNPB Suharyanto led a national rally on standby for a megathrust and hydrometeorological zone earthquake in the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, Thursday (5/9/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has held a national rally on standby for megathrust and hydrometeorological earthquakes to minimize the potential impacts caused by both casualties and infrastructure damage.

The national apple was led directly by the Head of BNPB Suharyanto in the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra (West Sumatra) Thursday, September 5.

The activity was also held in four other areas, namely, East Java, West Java, Central Java and Banten.

Suharyanto, while leading the rally which was followed online from Jakarta, said that the issue of large-scale earthquake disasters such as megathrust was not new and until now science cannot be predicted when or where it will happen.

However, reflecting on history and followed by the completeness of current infrastructure and science, he said, the disaster can be predicted so that preparedness to deal with it must be carried out and continuously encouraged, including in the Mentawai Islands.

Based on BNPB records, the Mentawai Islands was last shaken by a large earthquake measuring 7.8 magnitudes and accompanied by a tsunami in 2010.

In the disaster, 286 people died, 252 Mentawai residents were declared missing and resulted in changes to the natural landscape of the local area.

So through this preparedness rally, his party hopes to be used as a trigger so that the government, the TNI-Polri and the community continue to have a prepared attitude.

"We must be alert but there is no need to be afraid too much because whether we like it or not, we like it in addition to abundant resources, but on the other hand we are at a disaster source," he said, confiscated by Antara.

BNPB carried out a series of activities in the national rally, including examining the readiness of joint personnel, logistics for disaster equipment, assistance and evacuation, readiness of disaster-resilient villages, to community-based self-evacuation simulations.

Especially in the Mentawai Islands, the local Regency Government explained that the area was in the megathrust zone which was prone to earthquakes due to the meeting of the Indo-Australian plate.

Based on expert research, it is estimated that the potential for an earthquake of 8.9 SR could occur in the Southwest of Siberut Island, Mentawai Islands and also have the potential to cause a tsunami as high as 20 meters with an arrival time of less than 7 minutes.

The Mentawai Islands Regency Government has formed disaster-resilient villages, including 24 villages on the coast that have the potential to be affected by tsunamis and 10 villages in the tsunami land area. The disaster-resilient villages are part of 43 villages in the Mentawai Islands and are inhabited by 95 thousand people.

The local government has also prepared evacuation locations, one of which is in Tuapejat Village. The 65 meter high above sea level (MDPL) village has met 12 indicators of tsunami ready community that have been verified internationally.

The disaster risk index in Mentawai in 2023 is 162.58 which is included in the high category with a regional resilience index of 0.41.

In addition, there have also been five earthquake detection devices spread across Siberut, Sipura and Pagai and plan to install an additional 3 sea water level monitoring tools, all of which are carried out with the support of the BMKG.