Turkey-Indonesia Share Similar Earthquake Characteristics, BMKG Warns
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24 February 2023 08:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) chief Dwikorita Karnawati on Thursday said the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey should come as a warning for Indonesia as she said there are geological similarities between the two countries.
"The tectonic conditions are similar, even though they are not exactly the same," said Dwikorita Karnawati in a press conference dubbed the “Analysis of Turkish Earthquake Learning to Build Awareness, Mitigation, and Community Preparedness for Potential Earthquakes in Indonesia" on February 23.
"The Turkey earthquake reminds us that active faults with horizontal sliding movements or a strike-slip can cause catastrophic and complex earthquakes," he added.
According to Dwikorita, a comprehensive study is needed to uncover the mysteries in Indonesia’s strike-slip fault zones that are spread in the Great Sumatra Fault, Palu-Koro Fault, Matano Fault, Cimandiri Fault, Opak Fault, Gorontalo Fault, Sorong, Tarera Aiduna Fault, Yapen Fault, and more.
Dwikorita said that Indonesia also needs to be aware of multi-segment earthquakes, where the fault is divided into several blocks/segments, and the fault is also adjacent to other faults.
According to her, the earthquake in Turkey scaled at magnitude 7.8 could potentially rupture all segments of the 300-kilometer East Anatolian fault which includes six segments, namely Tukoglu, Golbasi, Yarpuzlu, Lakehazar, and Gorzali.
"This phenomenon provides a warning for those of us in Indonesia to be aware of the potential for a multi-segment earthquake that is very likely to occur," he said.
Dwikorita said a similar phenomenon occurred in the past in the Lombok Island quake back in 2018, which was shaken by five strong earthquakes within three weeks.
"The Turkey earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, apart from being able to break almost all segments of the East Anatolia Fault, also triggered earthquakes in other fault lines, namely the Surgu fault system to the west of it which was triggered so that earthquakes with magnitudes 7.5 and 6.0 occurred," she elaborated.
The impact of this triggering earthquake further increased the scale of the damages to buildings that were already affected and expanded the destruction zone caused by the tremors.
Indonesia houses many faults that surround a main fault zone such as the Cimandiri Fault, Semangko Fault, Palu Koro Fault, Aceh Seulimeum Fault, and Kawa Fault.
ERWIN PRIMA
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