TEMPO.CO, Bandung - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) published an official recommendation regarding the Cugenang Fault earthquake hazard zone to the government of the Cianjur Regency. The Head of the Bandung BMKG’s Geophysics Station Teguh Rahayu, said all policies and strategic plans related to the Cianjur Earthquake will be implemented by the local government.

"We, BMKG, will continue to support the Cianjur government if needed," said Rahayu on Friday, January 6, 2023.

According to Rahayu, the recommendation was delivered on December 22, 2022, including the map of the hazard zone at a scale of 1:35,000 which contains three zones with three different color codes, namely red, orange, and yellow.

In the middle of the map image, the Cugenang Fault line stretches in the form of red dots, heading northwest-southeast from the center of the source of the 5.6-magnitude earthquake that occurred on November 21, 2022.

In the map description, the red zone is a forbidden area, the orange zone is a limited area, and the yellow zone is a conditional area. “The red zone has an area of 2.63 square kilometers," said Rahayu.

The red zone, she explained, includes the area with the Cugenang Fault border of up to 10 meters, the quake-affected areas that were heavily damaged, areas that were hit by landslides following the November quake, "and areas that have the potential for landslides in the future if an earthquake reoccurs in the same place due to the Cugenang Fault."

BMKG highly suggested for the forbidden zone be vacated, meaning that residential areas are prohibited. It is spread over four points, starting from around the quake’s epicenter in Cugenang District, parts of Sarampad Village, and along the border of Cijedil Village and Cibeureum Village. The zone can be prioritized for green open spaces, monuments, or protected areas.

Meanwhile, the restricted or orange zone, which is located 10 meters to one kilometer from the Cugenang fault border, has a moderate vulnerability to landslides.

This zone can have quake-resistant and liquefaction-resistant buildings. Important and high-risk facilities such as multi-story hospitals and schools, energy facilities such as oil refineries, and similar facilities, however, are restricted.

The conditional zone coded yellow is an area situated more than one kilometer from the Cugenang fault and at a medium to low risk of deformation and earthquake. BMKG recommends that earthquake-resistant and liquefaction-resistant buildings be constructed in the zone.

ANWAR SISWADI (CONTRIBUTOR)

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