Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) called on Indonesians to update their information regarding natural disasters and risk alerts from credible sources.
The people can obtain updated information on hydro-meteorological disasters from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG’s) information services.
Identifying potential hazards and risks is part of the disaster mitigation efforts, the BNPB spokesperson Raditya Jati noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted here, Wednesday.
To this end, they may use several applications to obtain updated information on the potential hazards and risks, including InaRISK, Info BMKG, and Magma Indonesia, he remarked.
“Every household has different levels of risk owing to factors, such as topography of the property and strength of a building,” Jati explained.
Various parts of Indonesia are vulnerable to natural disaster events.
The BNPB had logged 1,423 natural disaster events striking across Indonesia during the period from January 1 to June 15, 2021.
They comprised 592 events of floods, 394 incidents of whirlwinds, 288 events of landslides, 108 incidents of bush and forest fires, 20 events of abrasion and high waves, 19 disastrous earthquakes, and two incidents of droughts.
The catastrophes claimed the lives of 493 people and led to 68 others going missing. The natural hazards also affected 5,206,534 people and compelled several of them to take refuge.
Moreover, the disaster events that inflicted injuries to 12,853 residents caused damage to 135,187 houses, and 2,920 public facilities.
Some 1,367 of the 2,920 damaged public facilities are educational facilities, while 1,207 others are houses of worship.
Some 346 health facilities, 492 office buildings, and 282 bridges also incurred damage owing to the natural hazards.
This year, Indonesia experienced one of the deadliest catastrophes — a 6.2-magnitude earthquake — that rattled the districts of Mamuju and Majene in West Sulawesi Province on January 15.
The catastrophe claimed over 100 lives and acutely impacted several residents in sub-districts, such as Mamuju, Tapalang, Tapalang Barat, Simboro Kepulauan, Kalukku, and Bonehau.
In Mamuju District alone, the BNPB reported that the earthquake had damaged 9,179 houses.
Source: Antara News