All the mosques that the PMI erected in the villages that had been rocked by a deadly earthquake last year were designed by adopting a mitigation principle, particularly earthquake-resistant structures
Lombok, W Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has constructed six mosques in the earthquake-hit areas of Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province, over the past year by adopting a local wisdom-based architecture model and earthquake-resistant structures. The sixth mosque was built in Setiling Village, Batukliang Utara Subdistrict, Lombok Tengah District, and was named after "Nurul Iman", a PMI's Central Executive Board member, Dwi Hartanto said here Friday.

All the mosques that the PMI erected in the villages that had been rocked by a deadly earthquake last year were designed by adopting a mitigation principle, particularly earthquake-resistant structures, he said.

Five other mosques were built in the areas of East Lombok, North Lombok, and West Lombok Districts, he said, adding that PMI had not just built six mosques but five schools as well during the recovery phase.

In 2018, a string of strong earthquakes repeatedly rocked Lombok Island, resulting in major catastrophes.

The strong earthquakes, including the 7.0-magnitude quake that shook Lombok Island August 5, 2018, killed more than 500 people and injured more than 800 others, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

The majority of those who were killed in the earthquakes were residents of areas in North Lombok District, which is in close proximity to the earthquake's epicenter. The subsequent aftershocks also damaged 23,098 houses and forcibly displaced 134,236 people.

Situated on the Pacific ring of fire, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Throughout 2018, Indonesia was hit by a total of 11,577 earthquakes, including several of them that caused serious casualties, with the number significantly increased as compared to that in 2017 according to Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati.

Several of the events related to the earthquakes that had hit Indonesia last year were never witnessed before, such as the liquefaction in Palu; a tsunami that came before the issuance of a tsunami warning in Palu, and the Sunda Strait Tsunami, she pointed out. (INE)

EDITED BY INE

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Translator: Aditia AR, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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