T

he Jakarta administration is inspecting high-rise buildings, starting on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin to prepare the city for a mega earthquake.

The Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency, which oversees buildings in the capital, was focusing on buildings taller than eight floors, said agency head Benny Agus Chandra.

The city has over 800 high-rise buildings, city data shows.

Benny said as long as the buildings followed the codes stipulated in the 2012 Indonesia National Standard (SNI) on construction planning to withstand earthquakes, they should be able to withstand certain ground acceleration. SNI 2012 on earthquakes is 150 pages of detailed guidelines.

The guidelines were drawn up with help from, among others, the Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction, the Bandung Institute of Technology, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Geology Body, Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and the United States Geological Survey.

The preliminary inspection, however, had nothing to do with earthquakes but was a regular check involving groundwater inspection, the presence of water absorption wells and waste management.

“After that, we will check the more technical aspects such as building structures and fire prevention systems,” Benny said.

Complying with and passing an inspection are required when a building’s owner applies for an extension of a building-worthiness certificate (SLF).

Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Jupan Royter said his office had prepared for a worst-case scenario by optimizing a public awareness campaign on earthquakes.

They are also ensuring that officers understand what to do in an emergency situation.

“The most important thing is that we need to prepare what mitigation efforts we have,” he said on Tuesday, adding that mitigating the effect of an earthquake, which scientists categorize as an unpredictable disaster, was among the main concerns of his agency, along with other frequent disasters the city faced, such as floods and fires.

The BMKG recently revealed that Jakarta had to be ready to face a magnitude 8.7 megathrust earthquake.

Its head, Dwikorita Karnawati, said with good preparation there might be zero casualties.

Scientists have long predicted the mega quake, based on a calculation that the megathrust, a fault line that runs from southern Sumatra to the south of Java and Bali, has accumulated much energy in the past three centuries since 1699 when a devastating earthquake hit Jakarta and heavily damaged parts of the city.

Dwikorita said despite the fact that Indonesia was situated in the Ring of Fire, efforts to raise disaster awareness issues were still lacking.

January’s earthquake in Banten, which caused panic throughout Jakarta, was a reminder
that the capital might not be well-prepared.

During the discussion, Deputy Jakarta Governor Sandiaga Uno, who was at his office when the tremor occurred, acknowledged that he was not ready to face such a situation.

“I was not ready. I have been at City Hall for three-and-a-half months and I still don’t know where to evacuate to,” he said.

Scientists said they needed more studies to make Jakarta better prepared, but funds for such research were lacking.

Sandiaga said the administration was committed to financially assist the BMKG to do more research, adding that he also wanted to draw up training programs for school children to raise their awareness and to establish a disaster prevention park where they can engage in earthquake simulations.