TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of Data Information and Public Relations Center of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated, as many as 479 houses in Banten and West Java were damaged by the earthquake centered in Lebak, Banten.
The amount of damage is a temporary data obtained by BNPB until midnight on Tuesday, January 23.
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According to Sutopo, some damage was caused by the building constructions that were unable to withstand the earthquake. In fact, Sutopo further said, that the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings should be applied in Indonesia, especially Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua.
As a result, the high number of damaged buildings and casualties are inevitable every time a significant magnitude earthquake occurs, he said.
For example, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 Richter scale (SR) on December 15, 2017, caused the damage to 8,860 homes, 99 schools and 67 places of worship.
Not only that, four people were killed and 36 people were injured. The loss and damage from the earthquake reached Rp250.76 billion.
Sutopo warned, the damages and the casualties are not the impacts of the earthquake, but because of the construction of buildings that are not strong enough to withstand earthquakes. Therefore, citizens and government are expected to increase their awareness. Some things need to be improved, including the preparation and mitigation of earthquakes, spatial, building code, and preparedness.
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"Earthquakes cannot be predicted with certainty. Science and technology have not been able to predict exactly when, where, and how big the earthquake will occur," he explained.
Previously, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) announced that there had been a 6.1 magnitude tectonic earthquake on Tuesday, January 23, in the afternoon. The earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean region, South Java at 13:34:53 pm.
LANI DIANA WIJAYA
