President Orders Immediate Response to Lombok Earthquake

Jakarta (ANTARA News)- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed his concerned ministers particularly Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto and other stakeholders to immediately address the impacts of 7-magnitude earthquake that hit Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Sunday.

“Last night, I ordered the Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto to coordinate with other concerned institutions including TNI (Indonesian Defense Forces), Polri (National Police), and NTB (West Nusa Tenggara) government, for immediate response to the earthquake impacts,” President Jokowi was quoted by Antara News as saying here, Monday.

The immediate response includes evacuation of injured and dead victims, and dispatching of relief aid.

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“Concerning logistics, it has already been sent to NTB since last night, including doctors,” he said.

Jokowi said he has been monitoring the impacts of the powerful earthquake from Jakarta. He is waiting for the right time to visit the quake-affected locations in Lombok, and he does not want to disturb the ongoing earthquake handling efforts.

He said he would deliver assistance after assessing the impacts of the tremor.

“We will see the situation in the field because it`s different from the 5-magnitude earthquake previously. Now it`s 7 magnitude. We will decide after witnessing the condition in the field. However, assistance will be provided,” he said.

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73 aftershocks

Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded 73 aftershocks as of 00:00 Monday after the magnitude-7 earthquake rocked East Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province on Sunday night.

The aftershocks had steadily declining intensity, the BMKG said in a statement received early Monday.

As the local residents still felt the aftershocks, they opted to save themselves in open space, the agency said.

An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa in the province on Sunday night.

The BMKG said the magnitude-7 quake was the main shock of the series of quakes which hit the province earlier.

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The magnitude 7 quake almost had the same epicenter as the magnitude 6.4 quake which hit the province on July 29 this year.

Judging by its epicenter, hypcenter depth and source mechanism, the quake is a shallow quake due to the activity of Flores back arc trust. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)