JAKARTA: “Leave a spoon in a glass before going to sleep” was a message that went viral on social media here in the aftermath of last night’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Banten province which could be felt in Jakarta some 386 kilometres away, leaving about 10 million people in the city in a panic.
Agreeing with this simple piece of advice, is Rahmat Triyono, head of the Earthquake and Tsunami Centre at the Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), whom local media reports quoted as saying that it was rational, and that a spoon or a fork in a drinking glass would definitely rattle in an earthquake and the sound would awaken those asleep, serving as an alert to evacuate their buildings.
He added that an alternative precaution which could be taken was to leave a drinking glass at the edge of a table, as the sound of it falling and breaking during an earthquake, was also bound to awaken people.
Last night’s earthquake which occurred at 7.03 pm in the Sunda Strait, was followed by two smaller quakes at 11.10 pm and at 12.22 am this morning, both in Banten province. – Bernama
