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Learning from Palu tsunami, Banggai residents respond quickly during quake
The BMKG had actually revoked its tsunami warning at 10:30 p.m. local time, but some people nevertheless preferred to stay on higher ground while waiting for morning to come.
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Residents wait outside their houses and buildings when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the Banggai Raya area in Central Sulawesi on the evening of April 12. (Antara/Steven Pontoh)
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hen a strong earthquake rocked the Greater Banggai area, which covers Banggai, Banggai Islands and Banggai Laut regencies in Central Sulawesi, on April 12 people panicked and ran away from beach areas.
The Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the magnitude 6.9 earthquake was felt as far away as Palu, the provincial capital, located more than 3,000 kilometers from the earthquake-stricken area.
Three minutes later the BMKG announced that the earthquake had the potential of causing a tsunami. People became more panicked. They immediately left beach areas and ran to higher ground. In hilly Luwuk, for example, they went up into the hills, looking for safer places.
“We still remember what happened in Palu,” local resident Emiliana Rumayer told The Jakarta Post on the next day upon returning to her home with her whole family, referring to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the province in September last year.
The BMKG had actually revoked its tsunami warning at 10:30 p.m. local time, but some people nevertheless preferred to stay on higher ground while waiting for morning to come.
The BMKG later revised its estimate of the magnitude of the earthquake, saying it was 6.8, and reported the epicenter was located in Tolo Bay, 82 kilometers to the southwest of Banggai Islands at a depth of 17 kilometers.
It was categorized as a shallow earthquake likely caused by movement of the Peleng fault line from Peleng Island to Tolo Bay from the southwest to the northeast.
