Natural disaster toll reaches at least 60<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
At least 60 people have been killed and 70 others severely
\ninjured following a series of natural disasters that struck the
\ncountry in the past two months, an official has said.<\/p>\n
The natural disasters include the landslide in the Central
\nJava regency of Purworejo, the devastating earthquake in the
\nPapua regency of Nabire and the West Sumatra mayoralty of Padang,
\nand the fatal storm in the Lombok Strait.<\/p>\n
\"They became victims mostly because they lived in poorly
\nconstructed houses,\" said Surono, head of the Geological Disaster
\nMitigation office in Bandung, which falls under the Ministry of
\nEnergy and Mineral Resources.<\/p>\n
Surono said the conclusion was based on the latest finding by
\na team that visited Nabire, where a major tremor last month
\nkilled at least 37 people. A survey by the team showed that most
\nof the victims had lived in residential houses not designed to be
\nquake-resistant.<\/p>\n
\"Those who stayed in hotels or other well-constructed
\nbuildings survived the earthquake,\" said Surono.<\/p>\n
The finding should serve as a painful lesson to those living
\nin quake-prone areas, said Surono, adding that people should
\nconsider constructing more sturdy homes to prevent fatalities in
\nthe event of future earthquakes.<\/p>\n
\"It is timely for Indonesians to build quake-resistant
\nbuildings, particularly in quake-prone areas throughout the
\ncountry,\" said Surono.<\/p>\n
The archipelagic country, located in an area called the \"Ring
\nof Fire\" for its high rate of volcanic and tectonic activity, is
\nprone to earthquakes on all major islands but Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, explained Surono, was the meeting point of three
\nlithospheres: the Australian lithosphere converges from the south
\nto the north, the Eurasian lithosphere presses from north to
\nsouth and the Pacific lithosphere pushes from east to west.<\/p>\n
The natural disaster toll has been rising in Indonesia, from
\n212,000 injured and killed between 1981 and 1990, to 709,000
\nvictims from 1991 to 2000.<\/p>\n
Quake-Prone Areas<\/p>\n
Sumatra Tarutung, North Sumatra province<\/p>\n
Padang, West Sumatra province<\/p>\n
Bengkulu province<\/p>\n
Lampung province<\/p>\n
Java Throughout Java, especially<\/p>\n
southern Java<\/p>\n
Nusa Tenggara Lombok Strait
\n(West and East
\nNusa Tenggara)<\/p>\n
Sulawesi Palu, Central Sulawesi<\/p>\n
Papua All parts of Papua<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/natural-disaster-toll-reaches-at-least-60-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }