As a nation located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is vulnerable to natural disasters such as volcano eruption, earthquake, and tsunami, and hence its locals must be prepared for that.
The world’s biggest archipelagic nation is strategically situated between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, that could cause extreme wet (La Nina) or dry seasons (El Nino) weather condition and ocean-related phenomena that could activate flooding, drought and forest fires.
One of the worst catastrophes striking Indonesia in modern history was the fatal tsunami which ravaged Aceh Province and Nias Island (North Sumatra Province) on December 26, 2004, which killed around 200,000 individuals and rendered about one million others homeless. The tsunami was set off by a powerful 8.9-magnitude earthquake.
In addition, given that March 2020, Indonesia has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that has actually contaminated an overall of 1,134,854 people and claimed 31,202 lives as of February 6,2021 World-widely, almost 106 million people have been contaminated by, and over 2.3 million others caught the pandemic, which had actually never ever been anticipated.
While going into 2021, Indonesia needs to deal with other natural catastrophes besides the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country had actually been stricken by a total of 197 natural disasters throughout the January 1-23 period, according to information of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
The majority of those disasters were hydrometeorological catastrophes making up 134 floods, 31 landslides, and 24 whirlwinds, that had actually claimed 184 lives, hurt, 2,700 individuals, rendered nine individuals missing, and affected or displaced 1.9 million others.
Compared to January 2020, during the exact same duration, BNPB taped 297 disasters impacting across Indonesia, particularly massive flooding in Jakarta and surrounding areas, and declaring 91 lives.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has actually warned of likely hydrometeorological catastrophes such as floods, landslides and whirlwind, taking place simultaneously in several regions during the peak of the ongoing rainy season, which usually starts in September or October and ends in March or April.
” Since October 2020, the BMKG has issued early warnings of prospective severe weather-related conditions due to different phenomena that are feared to coincide with the rainy season,” BMKG Head Dwikorita Karnawati stated just recently.
Heavy rains and unsteady soil caused a series of landslides in Sumedang, claiming 19 individuals, rendering 11 others missing, hurting 18 others and displacing over 1000 local residents.
In West Sulawesi, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Mamuju and Majene Districts claiming a minimum of 105 lives, displacing thousands of individuals, ruining homes, facilities, and public centers.
In reality, the BMKG recorded a total of 646 earthquakes of differing magnitudes and depths had actually hit Indonesia last month.
” The figure rose as compared to 518 earthquakes during the very same period in 2020,” Planner of the BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Mitigation Section Daryono specified in early February 2021.
January 2021 was recorded as an “unusual month” for earthquakes in the archipelago in which the frequency of event of tectonic earthquakes, whose tremors might be felt by residents, was above “normality”.
The number of earthquakes in January 2020 is higher than the average of 555 earthquakes for January, he mentioned. At least 85 of the 646 earthquakes could be felt in January 2021 as compared to 54 in January 2020.
Just on January 14, 2021, the country had tape-recorded eight earthquakes.
Based on the seismicity map, the BMKG had actually recognized earthquake-active zones in January 2021, including Aceh, Nias, Bengkulu, Lampung, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Maluku Sea, and Seram.
Earthquake activities in the active zone might continue up until February 2021, but they can likewise end and relocate to other locations.
” With increasing earthquake activities in January 2021 and earthquake active zones, we get in touch with the general public to stay calm and not to panic. They ought to remain watchful,” he mentioned.
In South Kalimantan, huge floods set off by constant heavy rains, swamped 10 districts and cities, displaced thousands of individuals, disabled the local economic and everyday activities in the province.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), while going to Banjar District, South Kalimantan, on January 18, stated that the huge flooding was the first to have happened in the province in the past 50 years.
The 10 flood-affected districts and cities are Tapin, Banjar, Banjar Baru, Tanah Laut City, Banjarmasin City, Hulu Sungai Tengah, Balangan, Tabalong, Hulu Sungai Selatan, and Batola.
The floods claimed 15 lives, swamped 24,379 houses, and displaced 39,549 people.
Floods had likewise reported in West Java, Central Java, East Java, West Sumatra, Aceh, Papua, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, and West Kalimantan
The Government claimed that the South Kalimantan flooding was due to extremely high precipitation during the existing rainy season.
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, has actually detailed 11 recommendations to take on flooding from upstream to downstream, including developing an agroforestry system, developing flood control, land rehab, community education, carrying out land preservation buildings, and improving drain and city preparation.
The Indonesian Online Forum for the Environment (Walhi), nevertheless, explained that the flooding was triggered deforestation as large parts of Kalimantan forests were transformed into palm oil plantations and coal mining locations.
Walhi Executive Director Nur Hidayati stated during a virtual launch of Environmental Review 2021 recently that he extreme weather is a concrete impact of climate change caused by the boost in greenhouse gas emissions due to utilize of nonrenewable fuel sources and reduction in forest cover.
She prompted the government to utilize the COVID-19- caused multi-dimensional crisis to make a change, particularly in the ecological sector, and treat it as a top priority problem.
Planner of Walhi’s political desk, Khalisa Khalid, also highlighted the significance of green politics and encouraged the recommendation of environmental concerns as a concern, whereas the environment has actually not been viewed as a concern problem up until now
Green politics might provide an option to the polarization of environmental concerns, motivate the adoption of more eco-friendly policies, and support public interest because the environment has a direct and indirect influence on human life, she kept in mind.
On The Other Hand, Luluk Nur Hamidah, a member of Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR), has actually believed that a series of current catastrophes, such as flooding at a variety of places, were not only the outcome of weather anomalies, but also inappropriate and inadequate policies.
She urged that financial activities that make use of natural resources and make the environmental carrying capacity unsustainable should be stopped.
The lawmaker highlighted enormous land clearing problems, such as land clearing for plantations in Kalimantan, which has actually increased from 15 percent to 72 percent in the last five years.
” In the last two years, land clearing for mining has actually increased by 13 percent. In addition, many safeguarded forest areas have actually become plantations,” she noted.
Regrettably, around 18,350 hectares of farming land in 11 districts has been threatened with crop failure due to flooding, she stated and called on the federal government to carry out right actions and policies without delay, such as implementing a land moratorium.
In the meantime, at 2 volcanoes– Mount Merapi and the 3,676- meter Mount Semeru in East Java have actually been emerging for several times considering that January this year, displacing numerous people and affecting several villages with ashes rains.
The 2,968- meter Mount Merapi situated between Central Java and Yogyakarta, is the most active amongst the around 130 active volcanoes in the nation.
Related news: Indonesia struck by 646 quakes in January 2021: BMKG
Associated news: Huge flooding in South Kalimantan broke five-decade record: Jokowi
Related news: Landslide death toll increases to 28 in Sumedang, 12 still missing
