Disasterchannel.co,- Like living on a sleeping dragon, it feels like the right expression for those of us who live on the island of Java. Imagine, our house is right on top of a dragon that can run amok and attack us at any time. This analogy seems appropriate to imagine how dangerous it is to live on an active fault that causes earthquakes.
Based on its seismotectonic order, Java Island is part of a very active arc and active arc seismotectonic unit. The regional tectonic of the Java region is controlled by the tectonic subduction of southern Java. As a result of the subduction, regional geological structures were formed in the mainland of Java. Earthquake hazard risk is largely determined by population density and infrastructure in an area that has been declared disaster-prone and earthquake risk.
Moreover, Java Island is the most densely populated area of Indonesia. The population in Java based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) is recorded at 10,576.4 thousand people. The high population density and the large number of infrastructure built add to the vulnerability of the Java region.
Evidence of how risky living on the island of Java can be can be seen from the historical series of earthquakes that exist. In the Sukabumi area, there is the Cimandiri Fault, which often experiences earthquakes and an earthquake occurred in 2000. In the Majalengka area, there is a Baribis Fault system in Majalengka as evidenced by the earthquakes in 1990 and 2001 in the Talaga area.
Shifting to the Central Java area, there is a history of an earthquake in Semarang on January 19, 1856. Shifting back to the east, you can see the Pati earthquake on December 12, 1890. An earthquake has also occurred in the Wonosobo area on November 9, 1924.
Not long ago, a destructive earthquake hit Yogyakarta on May 27, 2006. This earthquake killed 5,048 people. Several large earthquakes also occurred in East Java. A destructive earthquake occurred in Malang on November 20, 1958. Earthquake in Situbondo on September 10, 2007. An earthquake had hit Mojokerto long before on March 22, 1836.
Reflecting on existing history produces unexpected ideas. In the past, Java was known as an area that had fertile land and prosperous people. The word Jawa Dwipa appears to represent this paradise land with all the natural beauty in it. Jawadwipa’s words are listed in the manuscript of the Pararatwan i Bhumi Jawadwipa Library.
JawaDwipa is the right word and was chosen for the name of the expedition carried out by disasterchannel.co, the Skala foundation in collaboration with the Indonesian Geological Experts Association (IAGI). Based on this name, we who are members of it want to re-discover stories about earthquakes in the past. Because the disaster is believed to have an effect on the civilization that continues to develop on this island.
The JawaDwipa Expedition has several noble goals, including:
- Tracing traces and natural signs due to fault activity and the history of earthquakes that have occurred on the island of Java.
- Documenting and archiving local knowledge about disasters, tourism potential and culture as learning to deal with disasters and tourism-based educational facilities.
- Documenting natural resource management based on local wisdom as a recommendation for disaster mitigation strategies and tourism potential.
- Provide understanding related to the threat of disasters that exist in the vicinity and map the capacity of each region in dealing with these threats.
- Create a forum for discussion and introduction of culture and regional potential in art performances and folk parties.
Tracing the history of the earthquake and collecting the collective memory of the community about the earthquake is an interesting thing in this expedition. Because the experience of dealing with earthquakes experienced by residents is not well documented so far. In fact, this is something that can be learned by many people. The interaction of humans and nature as a place to live makes a story that continues to roll, resulting in learning from each repetition or response given when humans treat nature. This is inseparable from how humans interact with nature in a disaster event.
When we look at the Sendai framework, there are the following sentences:
Prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk through the implementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience. In line with the objectives mandated in the Sendai framework, it is deemed important to reduce disaster risk by encouraging the collection of data and risk information with locally-based data. Through data collection from the JawaDwipa expedition, it is hoped that it will produce recommendations for disaster risk reduction that are appropriate, appropriate, efficient and acceptable to the local community.(LS)
