6.4 Quake Hits Indonesia's Sunda Strait

Police in Ujung Kulon, Banten province, said they had not received any reports of damage or injuries from a 6.4 magnitude quake that struck in Indonesia's Sunda Strait on Friday afternoon. The temblor caused buildings to shake some 187 kilometers away in Jakarta.

No tsunami warning was issued.

The quake struck 185 kilometers of Sukabumi, at a depth of 53.7 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey. The USGS initially assigned it a magnitude of 6.5 but later downgraded it to 6.1.

In Cilegon on the west Java coast, residents said the earth shook powerfully but there was no evidence of damage.

The tremor was felt at between II and IV MMI in Jakarta. This level is considered to pose a relatively low threat to buildings and other structures, said Suharjono, head of the seismology desk at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

Officials at Ujung Kulon National Park said there did not appear to be any damage to the 1200-square-kilometer reserve. PT Krakatau Steel’s plant in Banten province was reportedly unaffected.

Don Makaha of Ombak Liar Surf Adventure said the epicenter was close to the island of Panaitan, which used to be home to a surf camp but has been abandoned since 2005. He said he was trying to establish contact with surfing charter boats in the area, but had not yet succeeded.

People fled high-rise buildings in Jakarta when the rumbling began. Robert Simanungkalit and his girlfriend had ordered food on the 10th floor of Plaza Semanggi.

"We just ran down the emergency stairs," he said. "We're still afraid to go back because there might be aftershocks."

Suharjono said it was impossible to know whether the quake was related to the devastating quake that struck West Sumatra earlier this month.


JG, Bloomberg

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‘Thousands trapped’ under rubble:Padang Earthquake!

The Jakarta Post , Padang/Medan/Pekanbaru | Thu, 10/01/2009 9:38 AM | Headlines
JP/Irma
A powerful earthquake rattled the city of Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday, leaving at least 75 dead and trapping thousands under flattened buildings, officials said.
The death toll was likely to increase as many buildings, including houses, hotels, schools and shops, collapsed, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a news conference in Jakarta after chairing an emergency meeting on the disaster response and coordination.
As communication lines were cut, the number of victims in the Pariaman regency, which is nearest to the epicenter in the Indian Ocean, are still unknown. A Pariaman native, the politician Indra Piliang, said as quoted by detik.com, “almost all houses are flattened.”
Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry's disaster center in Jakarta, said thousands of people were still trapped in the rubble of buildings.
The 7.6-magnitude quake sparked fires and there were power outages across the entire city. The roof of Padang's Minangkabau Airport reportedly collapsed, forcing a temporary closure, and roads and bridges were destroyed.
Tremors were felt in Medan, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Bengkulu and other areas across Sumatra Island, as well as in Singapore and Malaysia, meteorologists and witnesses said, causing widespread panic in all affected towns.
A tsunami warning for countries around the Indian Ocean was issued after the earthquake struck Wednesday evening, but was lifted an hour and a half later.
Heavy rainfall later in the evening worsened the situation in Padang, as most victims lacked emergency tents for shelter.
Witnesses told local television and radio hundreds of houses had collapsed and a road to the coastal town of Padang was cut off, while flights were canceled to the city, airlines officials said.
TV footage showed devastation, with piles of rubble and collapsed houses in Padang.
“Hundreds of houses have been damaged, there are fires, bridges are cut and there is extreme panic here. Ruptured water pipes have triggered flooding,” said a Reuters witness in the city, before his cell phone was cut off.
The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.9, and struck 50 kilometers off the coast of Sumatra.
However, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Medan put the quake’s magnitude at 7.6.
Its epicenter was 71 kilometers under the sea off Pariaman, 70 kilometers from Padang. The quake hit at around 5:16 p.m. for about four minutes along the same fault line that spawned the massive Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
The Health Ministry has dispatched medical teams carrying medicine and food supplies for the quake victims. Rustam Pakaya said teams from health agencies in Medan and Palembang were on their way to West Sumatra towns.
“Tomorrow [Thursday] morning about 40 doctors, including specialists, will fly to Padang on a humanitarian mission,” Rustam said.
Another medical team will depart from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta at about 6 a.m., he added.
Medan's BMG spokesman Rifwar Kamin said the areas in North Sumatra hardest hit by the quake included Nias Island.
Although the strong temblor was felt in Medan, no casualties were reported from North Sumatra.
Widespread panic hit Pekanbaru, forcing residents, including Riau deputy governor Mambang Mit, to flee buildings to seek safety in open fields, as traffic came to a standstill at roads across the province's capital city.
Tremors were felt in Pasir Pangarayan, the capital of Rokan Hulu regency, some 240 km from the epicenter in Pariaman. Yuslena, a schoolteacher in Rokan Hulu, said several buses had to stop because their drivers could not control them.
“The drivers were worried they would hit other vehicles so the passengers got off to seek safety,”
she said.
Residents in Padang were recently still recovering from the latest major quake in 2007.
They had also felt tremors in the 2005 quake which hit Nias, and the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and Nias (Source: JakartaPost)

Kunjungan Prof Peter Waterworth ke Diknas Tangsel

Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth merupakan mantan dosen Universitas Deakin, Melbourne, Australia. Sejak ia pensiun aktif memberikan kuliah paruh waktu di beberapa universitas: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapura, Indonesia, dan memberikan seminar di berbagai Negara Amerika dan Europa. Masyarakat pendidikan khususnya Kabupaten dan Kota Serang, serta umumnya Banten sangat akrab dengan beliau karena sering memberikan seminar, workshop, conference, supervisi tentang pembaharuan pendidikan sejak tahun 1998. Ia juga merupakan mediator kerjasama antar sekolah (sister school) untuk sekolah yang berada di Australia dengan sekolah yang berada di Indonesia.

Pada hari Senin, 12 Oktober 2009, Ia mau mengunjungi Dinas Pendidikan Kota Tangsel (jam 9.00 – 10.00) dan SMA Negeri 2 Kota Tangsel ( 11.00 – 14.00). Di sekolah ini,ia mau bertemu dengan Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel dan bertemu dengan dewan guru ( jam 11.00 – 12.00), dan beliau mau mengadakan workshop dengan para kepala sekolah se- Kota Tangsel yang sekolahnya sudah menyandang kualifikasi SBI/RSBI/SSN yang berada di Kota Tangsel (jam 13.00 – 14.00) bertempat di SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.

Selain itu, maksud kedatangan beliau juga adalah untuk memotivasi jalinan hubungan sister school yang sudah ada, misalnya: SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel berpasangan dengan Castlemaine Secondary College, Castlemaine. SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel bermitra dengan Weeroona Secondary College, Bendigo. Hal ini sebagai tindak lanjut kunjungan Bapak Drs Dadang Sofyan, Kadis Diknas Kota Tangsel dan rombongan ke Melbourne, Australia pada bulan Agustus lalu. Termasuk dalam kegiatan tersebut adalah mempromosikan sekolah-sekolah di Tangsel, yang salah satunya adalah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.

Hubungan sister school antara sekolah di Kota Tangsel difasilitasi juga oleh Drs. H. Herli Salim, M.Ed. Ia merupakan mediator sekolah Indonesia yang mau menjalin kerjasama pendidikan dengan sekolah Australia. Ia bertempat tinggal di Kota Melbourne, Australia, karena saat ini, Ia sedang belajar di Program Doktor Universitas Deakin, Melbourne, Australia. Ia merupakan dosen Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Kampus Serang, Banten. Ia aktif mendampingi Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth dalam setiap kegiatan pendidikan yang diselengarakan di Banten dan di seluruh kota Indonesia. Kerjasama pendidikan SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel dan SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel dengan sekolah Australia sudah terjalin dalam bentuk saling berkirim surat dan membuat web blog bersama.

Kunjungan Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth sudah dikomunikasikan oleh Drs. H Herli Salim, M.Ed. kepada Bapak Drs. Dadang Sofyan, Bapak Drs. Dedi Rafidi, Kasi Dikmenti, dan Bapak Drs. P.A. Sopandy, Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel. Marilah kita gunakan kesempatan ini bagi para siswa SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel dan SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel untuk lebih mengeratkan tali batin dengan sekolah yang berada di Australia. Untuk itu, silakan siswa dan siswi menulis surat dan titipkanlah surat tersebut ke Pak Peter untuk disampaikan ke para siswa di Australia. Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut, silakan hubungi Bapak Drs. Ibni Afan, Koordinator Program, di SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel. Mari sukseskan kunjungan Prof Dr Peter Waterworth ke Kota Tangerang Selatan ! (HS, 2009).

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English Version
Professor Peter Waterworth visits the Tangsel Educational Region

Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth is an ex-lecturer from the Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Since his retirement, he is still actively giving part-time lectures in several universities in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He also gives seminars in different parts of America and Europe. The educational personnel, especially in the Banten region and the city of Serang, knows him very well because of his seminars, workshops, conferences and his supervision of the education renewal since 1998. He also is a mediator for all the sister schools in Australia with schools in Indonesia.

On Monday, 12 October 2009, he visited the Regional Office in the city of Tangsel, SMA Negeri 2 Kota Tangsel. At this school he met with the principal and the leading teachers. He also held a workshop for all of the principals in the Tangsel area who were leading schools who had already qualified for international standing.
Apart from that, his visit was also to motivate other schools to develop sister school relationships. For example, SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel has formed a partnership with Castlemaine Secondary College. SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel has established a partnership with Weeroona College Bendigo. This is because of the visit to Melbourne, Australia made by Dr Dadang Sofyan, the head of Tangsel Region last August. This included the promotion of all of the schools in the Tangsel region, one of them is SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.


The sister school relationship between schools in Tangsel is being facilitated by Drs H. Herli Salim, M. Ed. He is the mediator for Indonesian schools who would like to form educational partnerships with Australian schools. He lives in Melbourne because at the moment he is undertaking a PhD at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a lecturer at the Indonesian Education University, Serang Campus, Banten. He actively accompanies Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth in all educational activities that were being held in Banten and throughout Indonesia. Co-operative Education between SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel and SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel with the Australian schools has already been formed through correspondence and developing a blog site together.

The visit of Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth has already been communicated by Drs H. Herli Salim, M.Ed. to Bapak Drs Dadang Sofyan, Bapak Drs. Dedi Rafidi and Bapak Drs. P.A. Sopandy, Principal of SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel. Let’s use this opportunity for all the students in the abovementioned Indonesian schools to form stronger spiritual ties with schools in Australia. For this purpose please encourage the students to write letters and give it to Pak Peter for him to take to the students in Australia. For more information, please contact Bapak Drs. Ibni Afan, Program co-ordinator at SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel. Let us help him make the program successful.

Written by Pak Herli Salim
Translated by Sandra Penna and Robyn Elmi

10 killed, 41 missing in Cianjur after Java powerful quake

The Jakarta Post , Cianjur, West Java | Thu, 09/03/2009 10:08 AM | National

Ten people were killed and 41 others are still missing in a small village in Cianjur regency after a 7.3-magnitude quake shook the southern part of West Java on Wednesday afternoon.

Apudin, 61, a resident of Cikangkareng village, said he had been walking along the kampung alley when he had witnessed the earthquake cause a hill facing one of the village's neighborhoods slide in less than three minutes.

"It happened very fast. We were all too panicked to save our lives," he told The Jakarta Post Thursday.

More than a dozen houses and a mosque are currently buried under rocks and soil from the landslide.

Agus Ibro, 34, a resident who manages the evacuation of the earthquake victims, said it was quite hard for the residents to locate more bodies on Wednesday since they had run the evacuation manually.

"Two excavators are reportedly heading to this place, we hope we can find more bodies today," he said.

Among the victims, according to Agus, was head of the community unit in the neighborhood.

"We only found his left leg, but his family has confirmed that it was his leg," he said

This morning, the residents, helped by officers from the army and local red-cross, will continue the evacuation. (hwa)

Gempa Bumi di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat

TEMPO Interaktif, Jakarta - Gempa 7,3 Skala Richter dipastikan oleh Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika tidak menimbulkan gelombang tsunami. Namun, gempa pukul 14.55 WIB yang berpusat di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat, itu merontokkan beberapa atap bangunan. Beberapa menit setelah gempa, badan ini sempat memberi peringatan berpotensi tsunami.

Guncangan gempa dirasakan hampir seluruh wilayah Jawa. Sejumlah kota di Jawa Barat dan Jawa Tengah, warganya merasakan adanya getaran gempa selama beberpa detik. di Kota Bandung, sebuah kantor bank rusak.

Begitu pula di Jakarta, gempa ini menimbulkan kepanikan penduduk dan mengakibatkan kerusakan beberapa fasilitas. Pegawai di perkantoran Jalan Suidrman berhamburan keluar. Mereka memadati ruas jalur lambat, lantaran takut gedung jangkung tempatnya bekerja, bakal terjadi apa-apa.