Expert Says Thousands of Earthquakes Hit Indonesia Annually

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) expert of earth sciences Danny Hilman Natawidjaja on Monday revealed Indonesia’s earthquake data for the past five years, which he presented in an event on disasters in the country from a scientific point of view. 

According to the agency’s records, earthquakes rated above magnitude 6.5 most often hit Indonesia’s eastern regions rather than the country’s western hemisphere. This aligns with the tectonic movements from the northern pacific plate of 12 centimeters to the east while the Indo-Australian plate in the western hemisphere moves 7 centimeters each year, or nearly twice as slow than its eastern counterpart. 

The research professor of earthquake geology and disasters revealed that in 2017 there had been 2,303 earthquakes measuring magnitude 4, 19 magnitude 6 quakes, and eight 6.5 magnitude quakes. “So actually, earthquakes with larger magnitudes rarely happen each year,” he said. 

Meanwhile in 2018, there were 3,030 cases of magnitude 4 earthquakes, 28 instances of magnitude 6 quakes, and 7 earthquakes measuring over magnitude 6.5. During this year, there were a number of destructive quakes that caused widespread devastation such as the ones striking Lombok in NTB and Palu in Central Sulawesi, which was followed by tsunami and liquefaction. There was also the tsunami that hit the West Java region caused by the eruption of the Child of Krakatoa. 

The year 2019 logged over 3 thousand magnitude 4 earthquakes, 30 earthquakes measuring magnitude 6, and 12 quakes measuring over magnitude 6.5. The ones that caused the most devastation happened in Banten, Ambon, and Halmahera. 

In 2020, major earthquakes struck Talaud, North Sulawesi and Pangandaran. “In total, there were 2,642 magnitude 4 earthquakes in 2020, 30 earthquakes measuring magnitude 6, and 6 quakes measuring magnitude 6.5,” said Danny. 

Meanwhile in this year, the California Institute of Technology graduate said there had been 2,840 magnitude 4 earthquakes, 18 quakes measuring magnitude 6, and 4 measuring over magnitude 6.5. The largest struck north of Flores, but fortunately did not cause too much damage. 

Read: BMKG Records 27 Earthquakes in Aceh, North Sumatra on December 17-23

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI