A lot of fatalities occurred during earthquakes due to building collapses, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman of BNPB, told reporters here on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, many houses have yet to be designed as earthquake-resistant buildings, because it would need 30 to 50 percent higher construction cost," Sutopo added.
Therefore, he said, the government will have to provide incentives for such buildings, which require specific skills and understanding on geospatial matters to avoid building houses around an active fault.
In addition to infrastructure, post-disaster management has also become a major concern, Sutopo said.
He admitted that there was a gradual improvement in the countrys disaster management. "Search and rescue operations are held under the coordination of Basarnas (national search and rescue agency), refugees are handled by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and all those efforts were conducted under the coordination of BNPB and BPBD (local agency for disaster management)," he added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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