The president has been informed about the strong earthquake that occurred 682 km Southwest of Mentawai Island, West Sumatra, according to a Presidential Communication Team release received here Wednesday.
Following the report, President Jokowi instructed the Disaster mitigation agencys team to monitor directly the field and prepare measures needed to be taken to mitigate the event.
The president is also following the latest updates on the major earthquake that led the National Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BKMG) to issue a tsunami warning.
The BMKG earlier announced that the earthquake was measuring 8.3 on Richter scale but later it corrected the quakes magnitude at 7.8 Richter scale.
Besides, President Jokowi also asked the people of Mentawai Island and West Sumatra to remain alert for the aftershock.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km below sea level, it has the potential to trigger a tsunami. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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