Often Rocked By Earthquakes Despite Small Scale, Central Maluku BPBD Install Signs And Evacuation Routes In Tehoru

Head of BMGK Dwikorita Karnawati marks a map of the earthquake and tsunami prone zone on Seram Island, in Tehoru Country, Seram Island, Central Maluku Regency, early September 2021 (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Central Maluku Regency, Maluku Province, installed signs and built an evacuation route in Tehoru District to strengthen disaster mitigation in the region.

"In 2022, we focus on strengthening disaster mitigation in Tehoru District, especially installing signs and evacuation routes in the area," said Head of the Central Maluku BPBD Preparedness Zeth Sahalessy confirmed from Ambon, Tuesday, May 31.

Disaster mitigation in Tehoru District needs to be done considering that recently the area has been rocked by many earthquakes, although small in scale.

"The condition of the earthquake incident on Seram Island recently led to the northern part of Seram Island, although it was of a small scale, so it needs to be anticipated early to avoid casualties," he said.

Zeth said an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 rocked Tehoru District on June 16, 2021. The shallow earthquake caused the coasts of Dusun Mahu and Japutih, Tehoru District to sink to the seabed and caused the sea level to rise by 0.5 meters.

The construction of evacuation routes in the sub-district also takes into account that many evacuation signs have been lost or damaged by irresponsible parties.

"So we are focusing on installing and expanding evacuation routes in Tehoru to make it easier for residents to evacuate independently to safe locations if an earthquake and tsunami occur," he said.

His party also massively disseminated by involving all elements of the pentahelix to increase public knowledge about disaster mitigation.

Moreover, based on the modeling carried out by the Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati in Tehoru District in September 2021, all coastal areas in Maluku, especially Seram Island, have been affected by large and small tsunamis.

Seram Island has a potential non-technical tsunami hazard or a tsunami that is not caused by an earthquake on a sufficiently high scale, because its coast is a deep sea with steep cliffs and prone to landslides.

"Therefore, efforts to increase community preparedness to self-evacuate to safe gathering point locations are very necessary, even though all these efforts are faced with the minimal budget required," he said.