Yogyakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Dwikorita Karnawati, has highlighted that the Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) in Kulon Progo district, Yogyakarta, is the first airport in ASEAN with earthquake- and tsunami-resistant construction.
"It is the only airport in ASEAN that has been prepared to resist a magnitude 8.5 earthquake and a tsunami of up to 10 meters in height," she informed after the opening of the ASEAN Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (ARDEX) in Yogyakarta on Tuesday.
ARDEX is being held in Bantul district, Yogyakarta, from August 1–4, 2023.
As the building has been designed to be earthquake- and tsunami-resistant, it is hoped that people will not run to get out of the airport when a disaster occurs, Karnawati said.
According to her, the second floor and the mezzanine floor of the YIA building have been designed as safe evacuation points when an earthquake and tsunami waves of up to 10 meters in height strike.
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She said that the building can accommodate 10 thousand people, including people from outside the airport area.
"Those who do not have a safe place to evacuate will be directed to the airport," she added.
During the simulation exercise on Tuesday, she expressed appreciation for the regional government of Yogyakarta and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), which have been deemed advanced in providing education on disaster mitigation to the local community, especially in anticipating earthquakes around the Opak-Oyo fault.
"Because, during the last earthquake in southern Bantul, the magnitude was quite high, 6. If it occurs in other districts and provinces, with relatively the same magnitude and depth, the damage would be massive, but, at that time, it was only light and very light," she explained.
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