PAPUAAROUND – Why is Jayapura often hit by earthquakes? It is known that earthquakes have been frequently detected in the Jayapura region of Papua since the beginning of 2023. Both the earthquakes were not felt and the ones that were felt caused damage.
As previously reported, two damaging earthquakes have been recorded in Jayapura, Papua. The first destructive earthquake occurred in Jayapura on February 2, 2023. Then on February 9, 2023, the last destructive earthquake occurred in Jayapura.
In addition, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded that hundreds of earthquakes in Jayapura in early 2023 were felt by residents out of a total of a thousand earthquakes. Here’s the explanation:
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How Many Earthquakes Happened in Jayapura 2023?
According to the BMKG data update Thursday (9/2/2023) at 23.00 WIB, 1,123 earthquakes have been recorded in Jayapura since early January 2023 to today. However, residents felt the earthquake only 154 times.
“Earthquakes in the area around Jayapura City as many as 1123 times with 154 incidents of which were felt by the community,” said BMKG Region V Head Yustus Rumakiek in his statement, reported by detikSulsel, Thursday (9/2).
BMKG also appealed to residents to remain calm and not be affected by hoax news. People are also advised to avoid buildings that are cracked or damaged by the earthquake.
Regarding the reasons why earthquakes frequently occur in Jayapura in 2023, Head of the BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Daryono, said Jayapura is a seismic and complex area. Daryono said this shows that the rocks in the area are fragile and prone to earthquakes.
“So it needs to be convinced that in the future the Jayapura area needs to pay attention to earthquake-resistant buildings. Earthquakes don’t kill or injure, but collapsed buildings cause injury or death, so it is hoped that people will build buildings with strong structures,” he said.
Daryono said the condition of the rocks at the point of the Jayapura earthquake today has the potential to trigger conjectures that will continue to occur. So earthquakes can continue to occur.
“But one day it will end,” said Daryono.
Meanwhile, Deputy for Meteorology, BMKG, Guswanto conveyed that the earthquake activity in Jayapura was high and shallow. He said that was the reason why earthquakes continued to occur in Jayapura.
“The characteristics of Jayapura are high seismic activity because the earthquakes here are shallow and the rocks break easily, so there has been continuous activity since January,” he said.
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Causes of the Earthquake Occurring in Jayapura
The BMKG revealed that the cause of the earthquake in Jayapura, both the January 2 2023 earthquake and the Jayapura February 9 2023 earthquake, was due to active fault activity throughout Jayapura.
“Taking into account the location of the epicenter, this earthquake is a shallow earthquake due to active fault activity, the results of the analysis of the source mechanism show that the earthquake has a shear movement mechanism,” said BMKG Head Dwikorita, at a press conference, Thursday (9/2).
What is an active fault that causes an earthquake in Jayapura? Active faults are faults or faults as fracture planes which are accompanied by a relative shift of one block to another rock block. This fault has an active shift or movement activity. It is this active fault movement that can trigger earthquakes.
Areas traversed by active fault distribution are areas prone to earthquakes. Such as active faults that pass through the Jayapura area. This is an explanation of why Jayapura will be frequently hit by earthquakes in 2023.
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