CIDISS. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Lombok region on Sunday, July 29, 2018, precisely at 5:47 am, according to a report by the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Center (BMKG) the epicenter was located 28 km northwest of East Lombok, 32 km northeast of North Lombok, 57 km east the sea of central Lombok and 61 km northeast of Mataram. This earthquake resulted in several bridges access to Mount Rinjani collapsed and landslide at some point which led to its closed access to Rinjani.
Gunung Rinjani National Park Office (BTNGR) West Nusa Tenggara temporarily closed the climbing route of Mount Rinjani because of a landslide caused by the earthquake. From the information of BTNGR Resort Sembalun, East Lombok, the number of climbers who climbed the mountain since last Friday as many as 788 people, while those recorded in Resort Senaru, North Lombok regency, only 38 people, including mountain tour guides.
The earthquake has caused the access road to descend down the mount Rinjani closed due to landslide. The Indonesian National Army (TNI) mobilized 140 Kopassus soldiers to rescue the climbers still trapped on Mount Rinjani. This is expressed by the Operation Assistant (Asops) Panglima Mayjen TNI Lodewyk Pusung at the time leading the departure of 140 Kopassus Soldiers, consisting of Team Climbers, Health Team and Transportation Team, using the C-130 Hercules A-1301 Aircraft located at Base Ops Lanud Halim Perdana Kusuma, East Jakarta, Monday (30/07/2018).
Lodewyk added that the special soldiers are also in radio equipment and medical equipment, he called Kodam IX / Udayana has also deployed Raider 900 / Satya Bhakti Wirottama Infantry Battalion to find an alternative way to evacuate climbers still trapped in Mount Rinjani. Kodam IX / Udayana has also prepared 2 helicopters to back up the assault of Kopassus.
On the previous day, TNI has also sent aid workers to earthquake victims in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). Drugs and food supplies are also included to alleviate the disaster victims.
By: Rikky .S *)
