Bad News For The Cilacap Region, Says The Head Of BMKG, The Area Is Prone To Tsunamis

Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati and Deputy Regent of Cilacap Syamsul Aulia Rahman in Cilacap, Monday, October 4 (Photo: Sumarwoto/Antara)

JAKARTA - Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati assessed that the Cilacap Regency, Central Java, is the most vulnerable to earthquakes with the potential for a tsunami when compared to other areas. For example, Purworejo, the city is far from the coast, Kebumen is far from the coast. The ones that are directly on the coast and national assets are in Cilacap, there is Pertamina, there is a steam power plant, and so on, that's a vital infrastructure," he said in Cilacap, as reported by Antara, Monday, October 4 Dwikorita said this to reporters on the sidelines of tracing the evacuation route in a series of launching a radio frequency-based tsunami early warning system and Sirita (Sirens for Rapid Information on Tsunami Alert) application.

If something happens to the vital object in Cilacap, he said, the nation will be paralyzed so it must be secured. Therefore, he said, the activity of tracing the tsunami evacuation route also involved various parties such as Pertamina, PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia. (Semen Indonesia Group), PLTU, and so on. "So, we work together. Early warning or disaster mitigation will be useless if we work separately," he said.

Regarding the existence of a pipeline in Pertamina's land which is part of the tsunami evacuation route, he said for the sake of security, his party suggested that the route should not be used as an evacuation route if there were other options. megathrust earthquake measuring more than 8 on the Richter Scale which has the potential to occur in southern Java. "So instead of gambling, don't gamble, just close your life. There are still many other routes," he emphasized. system/EWS), Dwikorita admitted that he had received data that the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) had installed hundreds of sirens in various parts of Indonesia which were then donated to local governments. or even more, why? The life time has expired, it has been installed for 10 years the past and the maintenance costs are expensive, especially in Cilacap, it is corroded," he explained. Thus, he said, the solution was to use other alternatives in the form of a radio frequency-based tsunami early warning information system and an Android-based Sirita application. Deputy Regent of Cilacap Syamsul Aulia Rahman said his party would like to thank BMKG for their concern for the Cilacap people for the umpteenth time because the district is one of the areas that has the potential to be hit by a megathrust earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale and can cause waves as high as 12 meters. "Alhamdulillah. earlier, the route or route for evacuation has been simulated. The point is, how do we map, mitigate so that the community will be on the right track, including the use of tall buildings such as the Cilacap State Polytechnic because it is possible that at the Polytechnic the maximum wave height is still 3 meters, so that which can be used (for evacuation) on the third floor and four," he explained. According to him, the simulation and tracing of the evacuation route was carried out not based on the expectation that the tsunami would occur but as part of the community's preparedness if the disaster did occur. which was previously a grant and is now managed by the Cilacap Regency Government through the local Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), it is very difficult to obtain. "Finally if we budget (for repairs) we may not meet again because it has been decades ago. I agree because now is the era of technology, if we can use technology, of course it will be easier," he said. time.