REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MATARAM -- Provincial Governor of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Tuan Guru Bajang Muhammad Zainul Majdi has called on the people to offer prayers in a bid to avoid aftershocks following a powerful earthquake on Sunday. Let us pray that there will be no aftershocks, he noted here on Monday.
"Once again, we urge all Indonesian people to pray," Majdi said.
He also expressed hope that mosque organizers in the province would help to keep the people calm to avoid panic. According to Majdi, his side was, until now, collecting information, especially regarding the situation in North Lombok.
In addition, the governor has continued to coordinate with various related agencies after the magnitude-7 earthquake rocked Lombok and Sumbawa Islands in NTB Province on Sunday night.
"We have coordinated with all relevant parties, both at the central (government) level and other agencies, related to the earthquake that hit NTB on Sunday night, especially North and East NTB," he stated, adding that all citizens in the affected area should not panic.
An earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, hit the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa in the province on Sunday night. "For the wounded (victims), we have also instructed the relevant agencies to mobilize all personnel to save the injured victims," the governor stated.
In addition, the governor has instructed to temporarily shut down all schools in North Lombok, Mataram City, East Lombok, West Lombok, and Central Lombok on Tuesday while checking the safety of the school buildings.
"I also instruct all health workers on the island of Lombok to continue to work to ensure that optimal health services are provided. All personnel of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) and the local government apparatuses along with the personnel of the military (TNI), police (Polri), Search and Rescue (SAR), as well as the community are urged to reach the most affected areas, such as in North Lombok and East Lombok," he noted.
Until now, electricity has been disrupted at several locations, and cellular networks were also cut off at various places.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) also noted that the magnitude-7 quake was the main shock in the series of quakes that had hit the province earlier. The magnitude-7 quake had almost the same epicenter as the magnitude-6.4 quake that had hit the province on July 29 this year.
Judging by its epicenter, hypocenter depth, and source parameters, the quake was shallow due to the activity of the Flores back arc thrust.
The death toll has reached to 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.
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