BMKG asked Sumedang residents to be alert for a week after the earthquake. 110 houses were seriously damaged, 456 residents were displaced,

Baca Gitu Loh - Java - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) asked the people of Sumedang Regency to remain alert over the next week following the earthquake shock at the end of 2023.

Head of the BMKG Bandung Geophysics Station, Teguh Rahayu in Sumedang, West Java, Monday, said that no one could predict the occurrence of aftershocks, including BMKG.

"We remind the public to remain vigilant by increasing their vigilance, especially in the next week, because we cannot yet predict what the aftershocks will be like. So, over the next week we must increase our vigilance," said Rahayu.

Rahayu said that the community must have this vigilance, especially those who own houses, which have been shaken by earthquakes five times from December 31 2023 to January 1 2024.

"It is certain that the structure of the building will shift, because our building is not a building designed to be earthquake resistant. So, you have to be alert," he said.

When asked about the cause of the five earthquakes in Sumedang, Rahayu said that currently the BMKG had not been able to clearly identify what the fault or fault activity was.

"However, we can say that this is from active local fault activity. Hopefully we in the field can collect data as soon as possible, so we can justify what the fault is, hopefully after the main earthquake of 4.8 magnitude, the trend of aftershocks will decrease in strength , hopefully it will continue to decay," he said.

As a result of a series of earthquakes with the largest measuring 4.8 magnitude in Sumedang on December 31 2023 to January 1 2024, 138 houses were slightly damaged, 110 houses were seriously damaged, 456 residents were displaced, 11 people suffered minor injuries, with two of them being treated at the Regional Hospital. Sumedang and Santosa Hospital Bandung, and there were no casualties in this incident.

Based on the results of analysis by the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy, Resources and Minerals (ESDM), this earthquake is thought to have been caused by active Cileunyi - Tanjungsari fault activity which was concluded based on the position of the earthquake epicenter and depth from BMKG data.

According to data from the Geological Agency, the Cileunyi - Tanjungsari Fault is a left-hand horizontal fault, its distribution starts from the south of Tanjungsari Village and continues northeast to the Cipeles River valley, and the shear rate value ranges from 0.19 - 0.48 mm/year.

The Geological Agency also noted that the Sumedang Regency area had experienced a damaging earthquake in 1972, while the 2010 earthquake caused anxiety for residents in the Tanjungsari area, Sumedang Regency. In 2022, an earthquake with a magnitude of (M2.7) was recorded at a depth of 16 km. ***

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