BPBD: No Damage Due To Meulaboh Earthquake, West Aceh

MEULABOH - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of West Aceh Regency confirmed that it did not find any reports of damage related to the earthquake that hit the Meulaboh City area, the capital of West Aceh Regency on Tuesday evening.

"Alhamdulillah, until now we have not received any reports of damage related to the earthquake that occurred this afternoon," said Head of West Aceh BPBD DR Mukhtaruddin in Meulaboh quoted by Antara, Tuesday, March 1.

Previously, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) released data on earthquakes that occurred on the southwest coast of Meulaboh City, Aceh which was rocked by a tectonic earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located at the coordinates of 3.97° North Latitude; 95.96° East Longitude, or to be precise, located at sea at a distance of 31 Km southwest of Meulaboh City, Aceh at a depth of 70 km.

Mukhtaruddin added that although he had not found any damage reports, his party was still communicating with a number of officers and related parties to ensure the current conditions.

Mukhtaruddin also explained that when the earthquake occurred, there were no casualties or panic among the people of West Aceh.

"Alhamdulillah, there is no panic, people are still in their homes," said Mukhtaruddin.

Meanwhile, the BMKG forecaster for the Meulaboh-Nagan Raya Station, Mira said that by paying attention to the location of the epicenter and the depth of the hypocenter, the earthquake that occurred in the west coast area of Meulaboh, the capital of West Aceh Regency, was a type of shallow earthquake due to subduction activity.

"The results of the analysis of the source mechanism show that the earthquake has a thrust fault mechanism," said Mira.

Mira also said that this earthquake had an impact and was felt in the Meulaboh area with an intensity scale of III MMI (the vibration was felt real in the house. The vibration felt as if a truck was passing) and the Banda Aceh area with an intensity scale of II-III MMI (the vibration was felt real in the house).

"There was a vibration as if a truck was passing, the modeling results show that this earthquake does not have the potential for a tsunami," said Mira.

BMKG also appealed to the public to remain calm and not be influenced by issues that cannot be justified.