Thursday, September 3, 2009

Jakarta Trembled by Earthquake


I used to think that the city where I lived Jakarta and neighboring province of West Java are places in Indonesia which are free from earthquakes.

However, yesterday afternoon I realized that I have been wrong, after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale stroked the town of Tasikmalaya, southern part of West Java. The tremors were strongly felt in all parts of Jakarta, causing panic not only to those who are working and living in high rise buildings but almost everyone in the city.

According to a spokesman of the Disaster Management Agency, 57 people died, at least 110 people were hospitalized 10 of them were in critical condition. 10,000 buildings collapsed, which includes houses, schools, offices and places of worship, most of them located in 10 regencies in West Java, including Tasikmalaya itself, Sukabumi, Cianjur, and one in Central Java.

For details on the above, please click here, here, here, here, here and here.

The above earthquake has made me and many other people living in Jakarta and vicinity that we are not free from earthquakes which could cause tsunami. Therefore, from now on we should always prepare ourselves for possibility of other earthquakes in the future.


Photo: Courtesy of The Jakarta Globe.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

So sorry to hear about the loss of lives and homes in your country. Here in America we will be praying for all of you.

Earthquakes are very scary events, even afterwards with the after shocks of smaller earthquakes. It seems like the whole globe is experiencing bad weather events.

Maybe people in your country could look into how the people in Japan have figured out how to build housing that withstands this high level of earthquakes? I heard Japan has an unusual amount of earthquakes constantly and has been working on this new building technology for decades now.

Will keep you and your countrymen in our prayers!

Ouu said...

omy goodness.It must be tragic to lose homes and family like that.No way I could ever even begin to understand what they are going through!

Unknown said...

@Denny Lyon,
Thank you very much for your sympathy and prayers.
Although according the authority high rise buildings in Jakarta can stand an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 Richter scale, however we still nee d to study more from countries like Japan which have more experiences with earthquakes.

@Jazzy,
Very tragic indeed

ichitetsu said...

I heard yesterday the earthquake continued. the place was in Jogjakarta, is that true ?

Unknown said...

Ichitetsu,
I haven't heard about, hopefully not

Unknown said...

so sorry for you Re earthquake

Unknown said...

Stuart,
Thank you for your symphaty