REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed his concerned ministers particularly Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto and other stakeholders to immediately address the impacts of 7-magnitude earthquake that hit Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Sunday (Aug 5). Wiranto has been in Lombok since Sunday as he was scheduled to attend Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism on Monday (Aug 6).
"Last night, I ordered the Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto to coordinate with other concerned institutions including TNI (Indonesian Defense Forces), Polri (National Police), and NTB (West Nusa Tenggara) government, for immediate response to the earthquake impacts," President Jokowi said here, Monday.
The immediate response includes evacuation of injured and dead victims, and dispatching of relief aid. "Concerning logistics, it has already been sent to NTB since last night, including doctors," he said.
Jokowi said he has been monitoring the impacts of the powerful earthquake from Jakarta. He is waiting for the right time to visit the quake-affected locations in Lombok, and he does not want to disturb the ongoing earthquake handling efforts.
He said he would deliver assistance after assessing the impacts of the tremor. "We will see the situation in the field because it's different from the 5-magnitude earthquake previously. Now it's 7 magnitude. We will decide after witnessing the condition in the field. However, assistance will be provided," he said.
The death toll of NTB earthquake has reached 91 as of Monday. The figure was predicted to increase as search process continues.
Of the 91 dead victims, 72 were found in the Districts of North Lombok, 9 bodies in West Lombok, two bodies in Central Lombok, two bodies in East Lombok, and four bodies in the provincial city of Mataram. Two other victims died in Bali, the neighboring province.
"Most of the victims died from collapsed buildings," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB)'s data center and public relations said in a press conference on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded 132 aftershocks as of Monday after the magnitude-7 earthquake rocked East Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province on Sunday night. The aftershocks had steadily declining intensity, the BMKG said in a statement received early Monday.
However, the magnitude was quite big 5.4 at around 07.28 WIB. As the local residents still felt the aftershocks, they opted to save themselves in open space, the agency said.
An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa in the province on Sunday night. The BMKG said the magnitude-7 quake was the main shock of the series of quakes which hit the province earlier.
The magnitude 7 quake almost had the same epicenter as the magnitude 6.4 quake which hit the province on July 29 this year. Judging by its epicenter, hypcenter depth and source mechanism, the quake is a shallow quake due to the activity of Flores back arc trust.
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