MAGELANG – The geology team from UGM visited Kranjan Lor hamlet in Magelang. In the village there are some 42 homes having the risk of landslide effects. The team was led by Prof. Dr. Dwikorita Karnawati, M.Sc., and two researchers from Kyoto University, Japan, on Sunday (26/1). The scientists found wall cracks in the home of the local residents following land movement due to the high precipitation, added by the recent earthquake in Kebumen.
“We were asking the residents to monitor the land movement by measuring the additional width of wall cracks from time to time. If the cracks will change drastically, we request them for temporary evacuation,” said Dwikorita.
The geology team also recommends them not to do exploration underneath as this can trigger landsliding. “We hope the government will immediately build drainage and dam around the slope here,” she said.
Kyoto University’s researcher, Prof.Hiroshi Fukoka, added the area is of terraced topography. Landslides had occured there hundreds of years ago. “The area where people are currently residing now was also a place where landslides occured,” he said.
Wahyu Wilopo, ST., M.Eng., shared that after viewing the wall cracks, he saw that they lived on a movable slope zone. “Added with heavy rains, permeable fishpond, leaked waterpipes plus vehicles movements, the land movement will happen faster,” he said.
Head of Emergency and Logistics Unit in Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency of Magelang, Drs. Joko Sudibyo, MT., said the local government had not made a decision pending a recommendation from the UGM team. “We would currently facilitate the water dam construction underneath the slopes due to the narrowing river width,” he said.
Head of Kranjang Lor hamlet, Kusyadi, said the walls of the 42 houses had cracked since the Yogya earthquake in 2006, making significant changes in the home construction.