Difficult to Predict Earthquake. An earthquake could not be predicted before it happened and up to now no scientist could tell when a temblor could occur, a minister said.
Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said here on Saturday that the National Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Office (BMKG) had earthquake detectors which inform about a location and magnitude of occurring temblors.
He emphasized the need to have a standard of quake-proof building construction, especially in quake-prone areas such as Padang and Aceh (Sumatra Island), and Banten (western Java).
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheavals due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Last Friday, an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Banten.
On September 30, a magnitude-7.9 earthquake devastated West Sumatra Province, and killed 1,115 people. In December 2004, a magnitude-8.9 earthquake and a subsequent gigantic tsunami hit Aceh Province and Nias Island (North Sumatra) which killed around 200,000 people and made around one million others homeless.
A geologist has warned that a colossal earthquake may hit Indonesia`s Sumatra island within 30 years, triggering a tsunami and making last month`s deadly temblor look tiny by comparison.
Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said the next big quake would last more than six times as long as the magnitude-7.6 quake which struck western Sumatra on September 30, leveling the city of Padang.
"We expect it will be about a magnitude 8.8, plus or minus say 0.1," Sieh, an American professor, said at a presentation late Wednesday at the Nanyang Technological University, where the observatory is located, according to AFP report. antara.com
Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said here on Saturday that the National Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Office (BMKG) had earthquake detectors which inform about a location and magnitude of occurring temblors.
He emphasized the need to have a standard of quake-proof building construction, especially in quake-prone areas such as Padang and Aceh (Sumatra Island), and Banten (western Java).
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheavals due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Last Friday, an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Banten.
On September 30, a magnitude-7.9 earthquake devastated West Sumatra Province, and killed 1,115 people. In December 2004, a magnitude-8.9 earthquake and a subsequent gigantic tsunami hit Aceh Province and Nias Island (North Sumatra) which killed around 200,000 people and made around one million others homeless.
A geologist has warned that a colossal earthquake may hit Indonesia`s Sumatra island within 30 years, triggering a tsunami and making last month`s deadly temblor look tiny by comparison.
Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said the next big quake would last more than six times as long as the magnitude-7.6 quake which struck western Sumatra on September 30, leveling the city of Padang.
"We expect it will be about a magnitude 8.8, plus or minus say 0.1," Sieh, an American professor, said at a presentation late Wednesday at the Nanyang Technological University, where the observatory is located, according to AFP report. antara.com
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