According to the agency's acting head, Aah Anwar Saefuloh, the quake-affected residents believe that their houses are still safe and secure, so they prefer staying at home to taking refuge.
The magnitude 6.2 earthquake that rattled Garut District, West Java, on April 27 at midnight damaged 459 houses as well as 54 infrastructure and public facilities, including schools and hospitals.
The damaged buildings were found in 101 villages of 29 sub-districts, he remarked, adding that the quake also injured six residents.
The BPBD officers continued to verify the extent of damage caused to the affected buildings to calculate material losses incurred by locals due to the powerful quake, Saefuloh noted.
Earthquakes regularly rock various parts of Indonesia since the country lies on the Circum-Pacific Belt, also known as the Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activities.
West Java is one of the Indonesian provinces that is vulnerable to earthquakes.
Related news: BNPB records 267 houses damaged following Garut's M6.2 earthquake
On Wednesday, January 3, 2024, for instance, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted West Java's southern region.
According to Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency's Earthquake and Tsunami Center Daryono, the quake was triggered by a rock deformation in the Indo-Australian tectonic plate.
Given its epicenter and hypocenter, the quake struck at a moderate depth and was the result of rock deformation in the Indo-Australian tectonic plate that subducted beneath the Eurasian plate, Daryono explained.
The magnitude of the quake, which occurred at 7:53 a.m. local time, was later updated to 5.7.
On November 21, 2022, at 1:21 p.m. local time, Cianjur District was jolted by a 5.6-magnitude earthquake, causing severe damage to 8,151 houses and moderate damage to 11,210 others.
A total of 18,469 houses incurred mild damage. The earthquake had also caused severe damage to 525 school buildings, 269 houses of worship, 14 healthcare facilities, and 17 office buildings, according to the Cianjur district government.
Indonesia experienced the deadliest ever earthquake, followed by tsunami, in Aceh Province on December 26, 2004. The catastrophe that also affected certain coastal areas in countries, such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India, reportedly killed some 230 thousand people.
Related news: BPBD Garut monitors the entire area after the earthquake occurs
Translator: Feri P, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
