People Must Prioritize Safety, Listen to Officials: President
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Kompas/Wisnu Widiantoro
Accompanied by several cabinet ministers, President Joko Widodo (center) and First Lady Iriana (right) talk to children at an evacuation post in Ulakan field, Karangasem regency, Bali, Tuesday (26/9). During his visit, the President distributed aid packages and asked the people to follow the instructions of field officers who were managing evacuation and other disaster mitigation efforts for Mt. Agung.
KARANGASEM, KOMPAS – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reaffirmed that the people’s safety is the main priority in managing the situation at Mt. Agung in Karangasem regency, Bali, which is currently on Danger status. The government, alongside the provincial and regency administrations, must work together in minimizing the financial losses caused by uncertainties surrounding the volcanic activity.
“Handling volcanic disasters is not easy, as there is an element of uncertainty as to when Mt. Agung will erupt. We cannot even predict whether or not it is actually going to erupt,” President Jokowi said after visiting evacuees sheltered at the Mt. Agung Disaster Mitigation Command Post at Swecapura Sports Hall in Klungkung regency on Tuesday (26/9/2017).
The President said it would be impossible to accurately predict when Mt. Agung would erupt and the intensity of the eruption. He urged people living near the mountain to listen to local officials’ instructions on the evacuation process.
“We are doing the best we can to minimize the effects of the Mt. Agung disaster. We all pray to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa to ease our burden,” the President told a press conference in front of the evacuation center, using the Balinese Hindu reference to God.
The President flew by helicopter from Nusa Dua, Badung regency, to the Mt. Agung Disaster Management Command Post in Tanah Ampo, Karangasem regency. He was accompanied by First Lady Iriana, Health Minister Nila F Moeloek, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.
The President arrived at the command post at 4:45 p.m. local time, about 19 minutes after an earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale occurred. The President was welcomed by Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, Karangasem Regent IGA Mas Sumantri, Klungkung Regent Nyoman Suwirta and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chair Willem Rampangilei.
As the President arrived at Swecaputra Sports Hall, the evacuees welcomed him enthusiastically. The stadium is sheltering 3,845 evacuees. As of Tuesday, 81,152 people had evacuated to 396 temporary shelters across regencies and cities in Bali.
The President and the First Lady talked with several evacuees and distributed aid packages of toiletries and baby supplies. The President also inspected a number of aid distribution trucks. The aid packages he distributed were worth Rp 7.1 billion (US$530,325).
Siren installation
Disaster information head Nyoman Suwanjaya of the Bali Disaster Mitigation Agency said the government would install five sirens in Karangasem to serve as an early warning system for the Mt. Agung eruption.
The sirens would be installed in Rendang, Selat, Kubu and Karangasem districts, with two sirens in Kubu. “The sound of the siren can be heard within a radius of 2 kilometers,” he said.
From the Mt. Agung Observation Post in Rendang district, it was reported that a tectonic earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale was recorded at 4:26 p.m. at a depth of 5 kilometers, 4 kilometers northwest of Karangasem. This was the strongest earthquake since the volcano’s alert level was raised to the highest level of Danger on Friday night (22/9). The earthquake was felt in Kuta (Badung) as well as in Denpasar and Ubud (Gianyar).
Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) chair Kasbani said that a 200-meter-tallcolumn of white smoke emerged from the volcano and headed east. “The white smoke emerged [Tuesday] afternoon and it was thicker than the one that appeared on Saturday (23/9). The white smoke consisted of sulphur and steam,” he said.
Three of the nine seismographic transmitters the PVMBG installed around Mt. Agung and Mt. Baturare currently broken, affecting the transmission of seismographic monitoring data to the observation post.
The three broken seismographic transmitters are located at the Pasar Agung, Yehkori and Cegi stations. As a result, field officers need to obtain data from the seismographs manually.
“Our officers must go into the danger zone in order to replace the memory cards. This way, the data recorded in the seismographs can still be monitored,” PVMBG volcanic disaster mitigation head Gede Suantika said.
The seismograph at the Mt. Agung observation post in Rendang is still working. However, its transmitter is broken and so it is unable to send any data. Repairs on the seismograph is under way in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
