BNPB head Doni Monardo has sent the head of the agency’s monitoring, evaluation, and reporting division, Asep Supriatna, to Ternate, the capital of North Maluku Province, to evaluate the impact of the recent quake.
"I have been assigned the task of making an immediate and thorough assessment of the impact of the recent earthquake, local people's needs, and necessary measures that the central government needs to know (about),” Supriatna said here on Tuesday.
The BNPB has proposed delivery of emergency tents without delay to the area, where 312 homes have reportedly been damaged by the quake. "We are going to provide data on affected people's requirements to the provincial administration and related authorities," Supriatna said.
The agency has been working with the provincial government to distribute humanitarian aid to those in need, he added.
Located on the Circum-Pacific Belt, also called the Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activity, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
On June 9 this year, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the Banda Sea in the Indonesian islands of Maluku, though no tsunami warning was issued.
On September 26, 2019, a 6.5-magnitude quake had rocked some areas of Maluku Province, compelling at least 95,256 residents to seek refuge.
The strong earthquake also claimed 38 lives and injured 27 residents in Ambon City, 90 residents in Maluku Tengah District, and 32 residents in Western Seram District.
In 2018, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that during the year, Indonesia had borne the brunt of 11,577 earthquakes, several of which had caused grave casualties, and the figure showed a notable increase compared to 2017.
BMKG data indicated that 11,577 earthquakes of varying magnitudes and depths struck Indonesia in 2018, while just 7,172 earthquakes were recorded in 2017.
Several earthquake-related events that affected Indonesia in 2018 were the first of a kind to have occurred, such as the liquefaction witnessed in Palu, a tsunami that struck prior to the issuance of a tsunami warning in Palu, and the Sunda Strait Tsunami.
In 2004, Indonesia had experienced a major catastrophe that claimed several hundred thousands lives in Banda Aceh and several other parts of Aceh Province, after the areas were rattled by a deadly tsunami following a powerful earthquake. (INE)
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: A.Fatah, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
