Quake risk for Jakarta 'very high'<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In the event of a strong earthquake with its epicenter near
\nJakarta, the damage to buildings and resulting casualties would
\nbe far worse than in cities such as Tokyo or Vancouver, a report
\nfrom the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology
\n(BPPT) shows.<\/p>\n
The Global Earthquake Safety Initiative (GESI) report shows
\nthat in terms of \"potential for buildings to kill people in a
\nstrong earthquake\", Jakarta's risk-rating was \"very high\".
\nJakarta ranked 11th out of the 21 earthquake-prone cities
\nsurveyed around the world (No. 1 the most dangerous, 21 the
\nsafest), with Tokyo at 18 and Vancouver at 20.<\/p>\n
The report, which was a result of cooperation between BPPT and
\nGeoHazard International (GHI), supported by the UN, was made to
\nget a complete picture of the risks here.<\/p>\n
Heru Sri Naryanto, head of the BPPT's Disaster Mitigation
\nTechnology Department, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the
\nreport showed that Jakarta had a disturbingly high risk of
\ncasualties if a major quake were to hit.<\/p>\n
It estimates that there is a 10 percent chance that many
\nbuildings in Jakarta would collapse due to an earthquake and kill
\nup to 10,000 people sometime in the next 50 years.<\/p>\n
Heru said that the risk was too high and disturbing,
\nconsidering that Jakarta had experienced a large number of weaker
\ntremors in recent years.<\/p>\n
He added that last Wednesday's earthquake -- centered some 300
\nkilometers away and measuring a mere 5.5 on the Richter scale --
\ncould have toppled many buildings if the epicenter was nearby,
\nbecause they had been built on unstable land, or in places where
\nthe groundwater had been depleted.<\/p>\n
He said that his agency had forwarded the report to the city
\nadministration, and now it was up to the officials to take
\npreventive measures, such as imposing strict building
\nrequirements, in order to significantly reduce risks.<\/p>\n
However, he doubted that the administration alone had the
\nability to take appropriate measures fast enough, therefore,
\nassistance from the people, especially building tenants, was
\nneeded to boost the risk-reducing efforts.<\/p>\n
Placidus Petrus, country coordinator for the National Fire
\nProtection Association (NFPA), an international codes and
\nstandards organization, told the Post that tenants should urge
\ntheir building owners or management to comply with all
\ninternational safety standards for their own protection.<\/p>\n
However, Gunawan Yonatan, associate director of the property
\ncompany PT Procon Indah, said that tall buildings in the capital
\nwere strong enough to withstand earthquakes because they were all
\ndesigned to cope with certain levels of jolts.<\/p>\n
He said that the city administration would not issue permits
\nfor high rise structures to be built unless the design included
\nanti-quake measures.<\/p>\n
He added that history had shown us that earthquakes in the
\ncapital were never strong enough to cause significant damage to
\nhigh rise buildings.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/quake-risk-for-jakarta-very-high-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}