TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry recommended buildings that were destroyed by the magnitude 7 earthquake in Lombok to be rebuilt away from the initial location of the earth separation.

“Buildings in the major land shift zone to be moved 20 meters away from the main cracked land,” said PVMBG head Kasbani in Bandung on Monday, August 13.

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Kasbani said that the fault trace that emerged on Lombok’s surface happened twice on July 29 and August 5 following the two major earthquakes.

This fault trace is not limited to mere separations but also a change in elevation that varies from two centimeters to half a meter. PVMBG named the new fault as the North Lombok Upward Fault.

“This is the fault we identified in the field,” said Kasbani.

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Kasbani explained that one of the factors that managed to destroy buildings is because the buildings were directly over this fault trace which was mostly found in regions such as; Sambik Bengkol in Gangga District; Beraringan, Kayangan, in Kayangan District; Selengan in Kayangan District.

PVMBG recommends buildings over this fault trace to be moved 20 meters from the main fault trace. They also strongly recommend future buildings to be built according to earthquake-proof structural designs.

AHMAD FIKRI