Sangihe Islands earthquake evacuees begin returning home: BNPB

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has stated that earthquake evacuees in the Sangihe Islands Regency, North Sulawesi, have returned to their respective homes as conditions on the ground gradually become more conducive. Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Centre Abdul Muhari reported in Jakarta on Tuesday that residents had previously taken independent shelter in public facilities and the homes of close relatives following the 7.7-magnitude tectonic earthquake on Monday (8/6). ‘Some of the residents who evacuated had already returned by 09.00 WIB this morning,’ he said. The BNPB has not yet received a detailed report on the exact number of returning residents, but according to Abdul, the 1,160 evacuees received close assistance from a joint team of officers coordinated by the local Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD). Although the evacuation situation has begun to ease, the BNPB has recorded damage to residential infrastructure in Sangihe Islands Regency after the rapid response team conducted further assessments. The BNPB Operations Control Directorate confirmed that total building damage recorded in Sangihe includes 54 heavily damaged houses, 21 moderately damaged houses, and eight lightly damaged houses. In addition, public facilities such as two church units, one school unit, and one teacher’s official residence unit were also reported to have sustained physical damage. ‘Small-magnitude aftershocks are still occurring in the affected area. However, some evacuees have returned, and the electricity supply in Sangihe Islands Regency is gradually returning to normal, except on several outermost islands close to the epicentre,’ he said. Significant impacts were also reported in other areas, such as the Talaud Islands Regency and North Minahasa. In Talaud Islands Regency, 12 households had their homes damaged, along with one hospital unit and one port warehouse building. Meanwhile, in North Minahasa Regency, one GMIM 76 building unit and one educational facility were damaged. ‘The damage impact on public facilities reported by the field team still tends to be stable for North Minahasa,’ Abdul added. The BNPB, according to him, has ensured that cross-agency coordination under a single emergency response command at the provincial to district levels continues to run rigorously to channel emergency logistical aid, repair electrical installations on the outermost islands, and complete the validation of structural building damage data.