Three students of UGM Geophysics, Reymon Agra Medika (2014), Zukhruf Delva Jannet (2014), and Yosua Alfontius from 2015, have conducted an earthquake vulnerability assessment of the Borobudur Temple in Central Java. The data acquisition was done in the temple compounds for 5 days from June 3 to 7, 2018, as a collaboration with the Borobudur Conservation Office, Directorate General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture.
Reymon as team leader of Student Creativity group mentioned that this research is a project for the conservation of Borobudur Temple as a world heritage site. He stated that the temple is located in a tectonic earthquake-prone area induced by the subduction of Indo-Australian Plate and Eurasian Plate, which lies beneath the south of Java island.
“Geological structures around the Borobudur Temple, namely Progo fault as an active fault, can adversely affect the temple structures in case of an earthquake,” said Reymon to journalists on Monday (6/25).
According to history, said Reymon, the Borobudur temple has been ravaged by several earthquakes that resulted in the collapse of the temple’s parts.
Their research can identify the earthquake vulnerability index on each floor by using the Microseismic method. The method measures the actual movement of the ground using a seismometer. “Data obtained from this method were then observed to get the natural amplification and frequency level, which were then used to analyze the earthquake vulnerability of the temple building,” explained Reymon.
Funded by Directorate of Higher Education, Ministry of Research, Technology, and Education for Student Creativity Program, the research is expected to visualize the earthquake vulnerability on each side of the temple building in the near future. “The result of this study can be used to strengthen the temple building by using the analysis of the construction.”
During the research process, Reymon admitted, they were assisted by some members of the Geophysics Student Society (HMGF) team, namely Alan Yudha, Rahadi Selo, Oktavianus Eko, Jum Satriani, and Ulya Habiburrahman.