TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) announced the issue on Lombok earthquake which might trigger the megathrust earthquake in South Java-Sunda Strait was a hoax or false news. Both tremors caused by different sources and that the distance gap was huge.

“It’s a hoax, don’t trust it. It’s not true that Lombok will trigger megathrust earthquake in South Java. The recent video is originally an old video and it’s not related to Lombok earthquake,” said BMKG head Dwikorta Karnwati to Tempo, August 2.

Dwikorita explained the activity of Lombok earthquake was different than the megathrust. The Lombok quake was caused by the active fault while megathrust earthquake occurred due to the reverse fault at the subduction zones.

According to Dwikorta, the false news was deliberately publicized by irresponsible people to create panic in the community. He said, no tool or technology could predict when, where, and the magnitude of the next earthquake might happen thus far.

“The potential earthquakes in megathrust zone in the south of West Java-Sunda Strait, similar to megathrust zone in Mentawai, are the study results which no one knows when it will occur,” he explained.

Dwikorita then appealed to the public to remain calm and not affected by hoax news that is widely circulated on social media. BMKG, he added, continuously for 24 hours updated its forecast on weather, maritime, flight, climate, air quality, earthquake, and tsunami.

“Make sure the information source is from BMKG. Other than via website, the public can monitor BMKG's social media accounts as well as through mobile application available in Apple Store an Google Play Store,” he said.

IRSYAN HASYIM