Three Great Earthquake of Batavia

Three Great Earthquake of Batavia

WEDNESDAY (2 / 9), Jakarta was rocked by an earthquake for the umpteenth time. Jakarta is already familiar with earthquakes since many centuries ago. Although the earthquake record that has ever happened in Batavia was not easy to find, at least there are some historical records often call the three great earthquakes that ever shook Batavia.

Warta Kota never mentioned one of them, namely the earthquake in the year 1780 in connection with the history of Observatory Mohr, the first observatory in Batavia in 1765, built Johan Maurits Mohr. Robert H van Gent, in a paper entitled Observations of the 1761 and 1769 Transits of Venus from Batavia (Dutch East Indies), mentions; in 1780 an earthquake shook the Batavia and, for one, destroys Mohr Observatory.

Land's former location of the observatory is now in an alley called Gang Torong at Victory Road Raya (Petak Sembilan), West Jakarta.

Long before that, on 4 and 5 November 1699, Batavia had also a big earthquake. It was destroyed buildings, water supply systems, too chaotic. Willard Hanna Tale in Jakarta to write a book, the church has ever located where now stands the Wayang Museum, also destroyed in the earthquake.

Hanna also noted that the earthquake was then followed by volcanic eruptions and ash to flow muddy Ciliwung River. Another major earthquake records in Batavia is the year 1883 when Mount Krakatoa erupted. Yet the spread and no clear explanation is also another earthquake in 1833 and 1903.

While the first meteorological observation activities in Batavia was conducted January 1, 1758 but regular observations of meteorological and geophysics began in 1866 with the establishment of magnet and Meteorological Observatory (MMO) or the Koninklijk Magnetisch en Meteorologisch Observatoriu (KMMO).

In the book A History of Science in The Netherlands: Survey, Themes, and Reference, edited by van Berkel, van Helden, and Palm, mentioned, Pieter Adriaan Bergsma, scholars in the field of geology, was assigned to conduct meteorological and geomagnetic research in Batavia until later Bergsma become leaders in KMMO. The main task are climate research and weather forecasting for the long-term agricultural development efforts, especially plantation owned by the Dutch in Indonesia.

On the way, the name is institution and change. At the time of the Kisho Japanese Kauso Kusho and after the independence of this institution is split into two, namely the Bureau of Meteorology in Yogyakarta special charge of collecting information for military purposes, and the Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta, which is under the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.

The task of Meteorology and Geophysics Agency is collecting information of meteorological and other geophysical. Since 1951 Indonesia became a member of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In 1955 the Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics changed the status of the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, and then in 1980 to the Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG) under the Ministry of Transportation. Meteorological and geophysical activity which was initially limited to observation or rainy weather only then increased and includes a variety of activities magnetic field observations, seismic, and meteorology for various purposes.

Related Post: