Day: March 1, 2022

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has identified a new fault while researching the recent earthquake in West Pasaman district of West Sumatra province.

“We initially thought that the epicenter of the earthquake came from the faults closest to the earthquake site, namely the Angkola and Sianok faults. However, after we did more research, the earthquake turned out to be from a new segment,” head of the BMKG Technical Seismology Center, Rahmat Triyono, said here on Tuesday.

The new fault has a horizontal fault mechanism and has shifted to the right, he informed.

“For the time being this segment has been named Talamau,” he said.

BMKG initially suspected that the 6.1-magnitude earthquake in West Pasaman originated from the Angkola and Sianok segments, but upon further research, it found that the two segments did not reach Talamau, he revealed.

“Thus, data on aftershocks confirm that this is a new segment,” he said.

BMKG suspects that the segment is connected to Sianok, he added. However, further research still needs to be done, he said.

There is potential for an earthquake of up to 6.2 in magnitude in the Talamau segment because it is not too long compared to other segments, he explained.

Regarding the quake’s epicenter, which is close to Mount Talamau, he said that until now, there has been no warning of increased mountain activity from the Geological Agency.

“People don’t need to worry because the mountain will not erupt suddenly, but will be marked by the appearance of thunder and other signs,” said Triyono.

In the meantime, BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati said that the finding of the new segment further complements the mapping effort of quake-prone areas in West Sumatra.

“This finding can also be a recommendation for local governments to prepare earthquake-resistant buildings and other mitigation efforts,” she said.

BMKG has appealed to the public to not worry about the possibility of aftershocks, she added. However, they need to remain alert for potential flooding and landslides given that the rainy season is still on, Karnawati added.

Source: Antara News

The Lampung provincial capital of Bandarlampung continues to expedite implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program among its residents in a bid to administer the first dose of vaccine to the entire targeted populace.

“Thank God, the number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 has reached 98 percent for the first dose. To reach 100 percent, the city government will push vaccination for people, who have not received the vaccine,” Bandarlampung Mayor, Eva Dwiana, stated on Tuesday.

Dwiana spoke of her administration conducting mass vaccinations at several locations in Bandarlampung in order to reduce crowds, as they took into account their status of level 3 community activities restriction.

Residents keen on receiving the second or booster doses might also get it through this program, she remarked.

Apart from hosting it in select few places, they would also offer door-to-door vaccinations for the public, she confirmed.

Dwiana stated that precautionary measures were being taken, including by establishing isolation centers, following a surge in COVID-19 cases.

“We have readied isolation centers at the Al-Furqon Mosque and the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital at Unila. However, thank God, they have not been used now since many patients are self-isolating,” she explained.

This is since people were getting weary of the pandemic situation and had begun to ignore health protocols that had caused a spike in COVID-19 cases.

“For the handling of COVID-19, the Task Force Team has actually been putting in maximum (efforts). In fact, almost every day, we monitor the area, urging the public to not cease wearing masks and obey health protocols, conduct random antigen tests, and they have also imposed restrictions. However, the people have grown tired of this condition,” Dwiana remarked.

According to data from the vaccine.kemkes.go.id page, recipients of the first dose of vaccine in Bandarlampung City had reached 859,847 (or 98.24 percent) and the number of people having taken the second dose of vaccine had reached 715,533 (or 81.75 percent) of the target.

Source: Antara News

Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), Bambang Soesatyo, has urged the government to remain vigilant despite the declining trend observed in national COVID-19 cases.

“The government must remain vigilant and continue to provide utmost service to residents who are infected with COVID-19 and its variants,” Soesatyo said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.

The government must be persistent in reminding residents about the importance of health protocols despite the declining COVID-19 caseload and hospitalization rate, the Speaker added.

Residents must also remain vigilant by observing the health protocols in public areas, he said.

“Residents are expected to maintain discipline in adhering to the health protocols as a prevention measure, considering that the Omicron variant has a higher infection rate,” Soesatyo explained.

He urged the authorities to ensure that the decline in COVID-19 cases remains consistent for at least two weeks in all provinces, as the positivity rate would be assessed to conceive and decide necessary pandemic handling measures.

The central and regional authorities must also address the increasing rate of COVID-19 mortality amid the Omicron wave, particularly as the national mortality rate has shown no sign of falling in recent weeks, he said.

“The government must provide appropriate treatment to COVID-19 patients and expedite vaccinations, particularly for vulnerable groups,” Soesatyo advised.

He also asked regional authorities, particularly in regions where COVID-19 cases are increasing, to continue efforts to suppress positive cases.

“Particularly in several provinces that recorded an increase on COVID-19 cases, such as Yogyakarta, West Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and North Sumatra,” he said.

Source: Antara News

Four out of the six sub-districts of Banten’s provincial capital, Serang, were flooded following heavy rainfall on Monday evening, the Serang City Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) informed.

The flood, which was triggered after several rivers breached their banks, hit 10 housing complexes the hardest, the agency said.

“Of the six sub-districts in Serang city, four sub-districts bore the brunt of the flood,” Head of Serang city BPBD Diat Hermawan informed on Tuesday

Two people were killed due to landslide and electrical shock due to flooding, he said.

Padma Raya on KH Jamhar Street and Kaujon Buah Gede were among the worst-affected housing complexes, he added.

Commander of the Banten provincial police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Unit, Senior Commissioner Dwi Yanto Nugroho, said a Search and Rescue (SAR) team had been dispatched to evacuate residents from flood-affected areas.

In anticipation of the flood, the Brimob Unit had readied personnel in accordance with the Banten provincial police chief’s instruction, he added.

“In accordance with the police chief’s instruction, personnel from the Brimob Unit helped flood-affected people,” he said.

In addition, several water and air police personnel from the provincial police evacuated flood victims from Rahayu Residence Housing in Serang, he added.

“Several areas in Serang city were flooded. For this part, water and air police personnel from the Banten provincial police evacuated the flood-affected people,” head of the Water and Air Police Directorate of the Banten provincial police, Senior Commissioner Giuseppe Reinhard Gultom, said.

Source: Antara News

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has asked the West Pasaman district government in West Sumatra to revise its regional spatial layout as part of mitigation efforts following the discovery of a new fault.

“With the discovery of new faults that have not been found so far, spatial adjustments need to be carried out for future mitigation,” said BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati on Tuesday, while providing details on developments regarding the 6.1-magnitude earthquake in West Pasaman at the VIP room of Minangkabau International Airport.

She said that after BMKG conducted research, they found a new fault, so spatial adjustments need to be made because the area was previously considered safe.

“The results of the study found the Talamau fault in West Pasaman. Hence, this area needs to be watched out for as it is included in the red zone according to the new mapping results,” she informed.

This means that the area has the potential to experience shocks of strong intensity of up to 8 MMI, which can collapse houses, she explained.

“Hence, it is important to prepare earthquake-resistant buildings and adjust the spatial layout in the zone,” she added.

After the earthquake, the local government needs to pay more attention to building construction in the area, she said.

According to the BMKG, the 6.1-magnitude earthquake in West Pasaman was followed by 161 aftershocks.

“However, the strength of the aftershocks continued to weaken and only six aftershocks could be felt,” Karnawati said.

Hence, the public need not worry about the aftershocks as their potential is decreasing, she added.

Meanwhile, head of the BMKG Seismology Center, Rahmat Triyonom said that the discovery of the new fault was based on research conducted in West Pasaman district.

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“Initially we thought the epicenter of the earthquake came from the closest fault in the earthquake location, namely the Angkola and Sianok faults. However, further research found that the earthquake was from a new segment,” he said.

Triyono said that the new fault has a horizontal fault mechanism and has shifted to the right.

“For the moment this segment has been named Talamau,” he said.

He further said he suspects that the segment is connected to Sianok. However, more research needs to be done on this, he added.

Triyono explained that the Talamau segment has the potential for triggering a 6.2-magnitude earthquake as it is not too long compared to other segments.

Source: Antara News