Sabtu, September 22, 2007

West Sumatra Earthquake, 6 March 2007, Structural Damage Report

by Teddy Boen
(Senior Advisor WSSI (World Seismic Safety Initiative)
Seminar dan Pameran HAKI 2007 - “KONSTRUKSI TAHAN GEMPA DI INDONESIA”

INTRODUCTION
On Thursday, March 6, 2007 at 10:49 AM, Singkarak Lake and its surrounding areas were shaken by a moderate earthquake while most people were working and children were studying at schools. According to USGS (United States Geological Survey), the epicenter of this earthquake is at 0.536°S, 100.498°E with 30 km depth and the magnitude was 6.3 Mw. The epicenter is 49 km from Padang, and 159 km from Pekanbaru.

The damaged places visited are Solok District, Tanah Datar District, and Agam District. The damage at those districts was scattered. The most damaged area in Solok is at Sumani Village (Singkarak Sub-District); in Tanah Datar is at Batipuh Village (Rambatan Sub-District) and Padang Panjang; in Agam is at Sungai Tanang Village (Banuhampu Sub-District) and Bukit Tinggi. There were no places / villages which were heavily damaged. The earthquake impact was not as big as exposed by newspapers and electronic media. The number of wounded casualties were also not as many as was the case during the Yogyakarta May 27, 2006 earthquake. The health care facilities in Solok did not experience an influx of wounded casualties. There was no mass emergency situation at all. The hastily built tents outside the hospital were not utilized.

Buildings that were damaged or collapsed during the March 6, 2007 West Sumatra earthquake were mostly masonry non engineered constructions, consisting of one or two stories houses, shop houses, religious and school buildings. The damaged buildings are scattered. The main cause of the damage buildings are poor quality of construction materials and poor workmanship.

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