We call on the public to remain calm and stay alert for possible significant aftershocks.Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has cautioned of significant aftershocks after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit West Sulawesi Province on early Friday.
"We call on the public to remain calm and stay alert for possible significant aftershocks," Chief of the BNPB Center for Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Raditya Jati noted in a written statement released in Jakarta on Friday.
Jati noted that significant aftershocks may trigger landslides and rockfalls while calling on the people residing in hilly areas, with steep cliffs, to remain vigilant.
A tsunami, triggered by a powerful earthquake, once devastated the coastal area of Majene District, West Sulawesi, in 1969. Thus, if local residents feel a strong earthquake, then they should stay away from the coast soon, he remarked.
"While increasing vigilance, the public should not easily believe in unclear information," he stated.
The public should not believe in hoax news about the likelihood of more powerful earthquake and tsunami, he emphasized.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the quake that hit Majene on early Friday is a shallow coastal earthquake caused by active fault.
Prior to the 6.2-magnitude quake striking on early Friday, a foreshock of magnitude 5.9 occurred on Thursday at 13:35 Western Indonesia Time (WIB), the agency stated.
Tens of people lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries after a 6.2-magnitude quake rattled the districts of Majene and Mamuju on early Friday. The quake also compelled over 15 thousand people to flee their homes.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi/Suharto
Editor: Sri Haryati
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