Northern Sumatra’s Mt Sinabung volcano erupted quite famously in May 2016, and the IDEP Disaster Risk Reduction team were on site, in the midst of the molten action.
In Medan to assess beneficiaries of a Earthquake Safe House program to provide secure housing for 30 at-risk families in this earthquake prone region of North Sumatra, this IDEP project – supported by corporate partner PT. HM. Sampoerna – will relocate family dwellings affected by cold lava to a safer site for the Village Perbaji, District Tiganderket, of Karo in the shadow of Mount Sinabung eruptions.
In the implementation of this program, the training has been completed for earthquake-safe house constructor. The training was conducted on 19-21 May 2016 with a total of 11 developers were trained for 3 days with introduction to structure earthquake-safe – reinforcement of building foundations and materials to be used, framing and casting, as well as the strengthening safety of the roof frame and the roof structure.
Furthermore, there was also a groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of the first earthquake-safe house on 23 May 2016, which attended by Karo Region Regional Disaster Management Agency, head of Tiganderket sub-district, head of Perbaji village, and villager’s representatives, also representative of PT. HM. Sampoerna, Tbk.
Most of Indonesia is prone to earthquakes. Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but we can reduce the impact and the loss caused by the earthquake. Most of the casualties were caused not because of the earthquake, but because of man-made buildings that collapsed during the earthquake.
No building is 100% earthquake resistant; the level of damage to a building depending on the building construction, building distance from the center and point earthquake, as well as the sheer scale of the earthquake. But we can try to improve the opportunities to save themselves by building ‘Earthquake Safe House’.
Earthquake-safe House website – http://www.rumahamangempa.info/
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