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Incentives needed to construct earthquake-resistant structures
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The red-and-white flag flies over a collapsed building at Meureudu Market in Pidie Jaya regency, Aceh following an earthquake. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has called on the government to provide a stimulus in a bid to raise public awareness on earthquake preparedness, particularly the importance of developing earthquake-resistant buildings.
The incentive is importance because of the extra costs to build earthquake-resistant structures that discourage people from developing such buildings, BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in Jakarta on Thursday.
“Incentives might be needed to convert the existing knowledge [on earthquake resistant structures] into a daily culture,” Sutopo said while discussing the agency’s year-end report.
He said while public awareness on earthquake mitigation and preventive measures had increased after a devastating tsunami in Aceh in 2004, most newly constructed homes and shop-houses in Aceh’s Pidie Jaya regency, which was struck by an earthquake this month, had not been built in line with earthquake-resistant guidelines on account of costs, he added.
“Such buildings may not prevent earthquakes, but they will be tougher when an earthquake hits,” Sutopo said.
According to the year-end report, 148.4 million people in 386 cities and regencies across the archipelago are vulnerable to earthquakes as they are living in tremor-prone areas. (bbn)
