BNPB: Lombok Quake Economic Loss at Rp7.45tn

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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB

A motorcycle passes buildings destroyed by Sunday's earthquake in North Lombok, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said that the number of victims and economic losses from the Lombok earthquake are increasing.

Ten days after after a high magnitude hit Lombok, the BNPB’s head of Data Center, Information and Public Relations Division, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said that the damages have reached a figure of Rp7.45 trillion as of August 13.

“The housing sector suffered the biggest damages and loss, accounting for 81 percent,” Sutopo said in a written statement on Aug. 15.

Read: Govt Renovation after Lombok Earthquake Begins This Week

Sutopo said the figure would increase as more damages are reported to the BNPB. The agency will calculate how much money it would take to rebuild and rehabilitate the damaged areas.

“Of course it would cost trillions. And we cannot rely on the provincial government only. Most of the funding come from the central government,” he said.

Help and aid from the public as well as the business sector, he said, are gravely needed. The reconstruction and rehabilitation process is estimated to take two years.

Muhammad Hendartyo