MUHAMMADIYAH.ID, JAKARTA - To provide understanding of a Megathrust issue, Disaster Management Board (LPB) of Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC) conducted a discussion on disasters with geologists and activists on Friday (23/8).

Organized in Hall of Muhammadiyah Dakwah Center, Jakarta, the discussion talked about ‘Sunda Strait Megathrust Potential and How Are Our Preparedness?’.

Vice Chair of the MDMC Rahmawati Husein stated that this discussion was a part of disaster mitigation and education so that discussion participants could act proportionally and efficiently when the disaster occurs.

“We have to educate ourselves since we do not need to always cover our body under a table when a disaster takes place. We have to know types of a disaster, scale, impacts, and how to cope with it. To be honest, our knowledge of disasters is little,” criticized Rahmawati to Indonesian people who passively learn disasters and prefer waiting for information from television.

“As a result, a house which we built for years is destroyed in seconds because of being constructed on a fault. Autonomy for seeking information of disasters is essential. We have to comprehend the risks and how to reduce them,” asserted Rahmawati.

“Physical and technical preparedness is a mean of reducing the risk potential,” emphasized Rahmawati.

Meanwhile, Directorate of Community Empowerment of National Disaster Management Board (BNPB) agreed that types, risks and impacts of disasters are not single so that we have to initiate gain more information than what National and Non-National Disaster Boards provide.