Indonesia Logs Over 4,000 Earthquakes In August - BMKG

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

JAKARTA, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- Indonesia was rocked by 4,071 earthquakes in August, the country’s meteorological agency said, highlighting its vulnerability to seismic hazards.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said 4,050 quakes were below magnitude-5.0, while 21 exceeded that level. In 90 of the cases, the quakes were felt by residents.

“The strongest quake in August was a magnitude-6.3 in Sarmi, Papua, on August 12, followed by a magnitude-5.8 in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on August 17,” BMKG’s Earthquake and Tsunami Centre head Daryono said in a statement.

A magnitude-4.7 tremor struck Karawang, West Java, on August 20, shaking communities near Jakarta.

Responding to speculations linking a total lunar eclipse on September 7 to 8 with natural disasters, Daryono warned the public against making earthquake predictions.

He dismissed claims that lunar eclipses could trigger earthquakes.

“The gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun does affect tides and slightly presses on the Earth’s crust, a phenomenon known as Earth tides, but the effect is minimal compared with the vast energy stored in fault zones,” he explained.

He also stressed that those who truly understand seismology are very careful and would never dare to predict an earthquake in public. “But those without expertise are often the loudest in making predictions,” he added.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, sits on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ and experiences thousands of quakes each year, though most are too weak to be felt.

-- BERNAMA