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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Yogyakarta Marks 20 Years Since Earthquake, Focuses on Resilience and Education

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • A 20th anniversary commemoration of the Yogyakarta earthquake included disaster mitigation training.
  • The event highlighted the significant seismic risk in Yogyakarta due to its location above the active Opak Fault.
  • Officials emphasized community resilience and strengthening building structures over relocation as key mitigation strategies.

Communities in Yogyakarta marked the 20th anniversary of a devastating earthquake with a focus on disaster preparedness. The commemoration, held at SMA Negeri 1 Kalasan near Prambanan, included vital training in disaster mitigation.

What needs attention is how community resilience is formed without having to relocate them from their birthplace around the Opak Fault.

· Lilik KurniawanDeputy for Coordination of Disaster and Conflict Management at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, discussing mitigation strategies.

The event underscored the persistent seismic threat to the region, situated directly above the active Opak Fault. This fault was the epicenter of the 5.9 magnitude earthquake in 2006 that claimed over 5,700 lives.

Never distance people from their homes. This means even if their houses experienced an earthquake, if they are built stronger than before, the impact is expected to not be as severe as before.

· Sri Sultan HB XGovernor of DIY, quoted by Lilik Kurniawan regarding policies on disaster-prone areas.

Officials, including Lilik Kurniawan from the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, stressed that the solution lies not in relocating residents but in building community resilience. He cited the directive of Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan HB X, who prohibits moving people from their ancestral lands.

The crucial thing is how to make policies to protect residents in disaster-prone areas. One of them is through strengthening the physical structure of residential buildings around the Opak Fault.

· Lilik KurniawanExplaining the importance of building codes and structural integrity in disaster mitigation.

Kurniawan advocated for strengthening the physical structures of homes and buildings around the Opak Fault. He emphasized that while earthquakes are recurring natural events with unpredictable timing, robust construction can significantly reduce casualties and damage, preventing a repeat of the 2006 disaster. The importance of collective memory and ongoing education for younger generations about disaster preparedness was also highlighted, drawing parallels with the long dormancy and eventual eruption of Mount Sinabung.

Disasters can recur after several generations; the current high school students were not yet born during the 2006 earthquake, so they must be educated about preparedness.

· Lilik KurniawanEmphasizing the need for continuous education on disaster preparedness for new generations.
About this summary

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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