Ilustrasi. Menurut BMKG, gempa magnitudo 5,3 yang mengguncang Pangandaran pada Kamis pagi, 28/12/2023, disebabkan pergeseran dalam lempeng Eurasia dengan pergerakan geser-naik.(Sumber: Freepik)
Gempa mengguncang Kabupaten Pangandaran, Jawa Barat, hari Kamis pagi, 28/12/2023., berkekuatan magnitudo 5,5 pada pukul 05:43:55 WIB.
Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) menyatakan pusat gempa berada di 80 km Barat Daya Kabupaten Pangandaran.
Episenter gempa berada di koordinat 8.18 Lintang Selatan, 107.89 Bujur Timur atau berlokasi di laut pada jarak 94 km arah Barat Daya Kabupaten Pangandaran pada kedalaman 41 km.
Berdasarkan lokasi episenter dan kedalaman hiposenter, gempa tersebut termasuk gempa bumi dangkal yang terjadi akibat aktivitas penyesaran dalam Lempeng Eurasia.
Getaran gempa terasa di beberapa daerah seperti Garut, Cilacap, Pelabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi, hingga Bandung dengan skala II-III yang artinya getaran bisa dirasakan.
Hasil pemodelan menunjukkan gempa bumi tersebut tidak berpotensi tsunami.
Per pukul 06:15 WIB berdasarkan hasil monitoring BMKG menunjukkan adanya 1 aktivitas gempa bumi susulan.
Kepala Pusat Gempabumi dan Tsunami Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) Daryono menjelaskan gempa tersebut terjadi akibat penyesaran atau pergeseran dalam lempeng Eurasia dan memiliki mekanisme pergerakan yang geser-naik.
“Hasil analisis mekanisme sumber menunjukkan bahwa gempa bumi memiliki mekanisme pergerakan geser-naik,” kata Daryono, Kamis.
BMKG mengimbau agar masyarakat tetap berhati-hati dengan adanya potensi gempa susulan yang mungkin terjadi.
Masyarakat diimbau untuk tetap tenang dan tidak mudah percaya dengan informasi yang tidak bisa dipertanggungjawabkan kebenarannya.
Informasi terkait gempa bumi hanya dibagikan oleh BMKG melalui akun media sosial resmi Twitter @infobmkg.
Atap KUA Cipatujah dan Dinding Rumah di Tasikmalaya Ambruk
Sebuah atap bangunan Kantor Urusan Agama (KUA) di Kecamatan Cipatujah dan dinding rumah di Kecamatan Salawu, Kabupaten Tasikmalaya, roboh akibat gempa M 5,5 mengguncang Pangandaran, Jawa Barat, Kamis pagi, 28/12/2023.
Akibatnya, peralatan kantor seperti kursi dan komputer di ruangan kantor KUA tersebut rusak tertimpa reruntuhan atap dari bahan baja ringan tersebut.
Bangunan KUA Cipatujah Kab. Tasikmalaya ambruk akibat diterjang gempabumi. (Nalendra Sukarya/TUGU BANDUNG.ID).***
Sementara, sebuah dinding rumah di Kecamatan Salawu ambruk hanya di bagian dapur belakang rumah saja akibat gempa tersebut.
"Iya, kami baru mendapatkan laporan 2 bangunan atap kantor (KUA) di Cipatujah dan dinding rumah saja di Salawu terdampak gempa (Pangandaran) tadi pagi," jelas Kepala Pelaksana Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Kabupaten Tasikmalaya, Nuraedidin kepada Kompas.com, Kamis pagi.
Meski demikian, sampai saat ini tak ada korban jiwa akibat guncangan gempa Pangandaran yang terasa besar hampir satu menit tersebut di wilayah Tasikmalaya.
Namun, pihaknya meminta masyarakat waspada gempa susulan yang bisa kapan saja terjadi.
"Tidak ada (korban jiwa). Dua lokasi itu hanya rusak ringan saja," tambahnya.
Sementara itu, Kepala Polsek Cipatujah Polres Tasikmalaya, Iptu Tono Suherman, mengatakan selain atap ambruk, dinding bangunan KUA itu juga mengalami retak akibat guncangan gempa.
"Kejadian tersebut tidak ada korban jiwa. Kerugian sekitar Rp 70 juta diperkirakan," kata dia.
Diberitakan sebelumnya, Kabupaten Pangandaran, Jawa Barat, diguncang gempa magnitudo 5,5 pada Kamis (28/12/2023) pukul 05.43 WIB.
Getarannya terasa kuat hingga Tasikmalaya dan sekitarnya.
Dalam selang waktu yang berdekatan, di wilayah utara Sukabumi, khususnya Kecamatan Kabandungan tiga kali diguncag Gempa bumi Tektonik secara beruntun pada Rabu malam, 27/12/2023.
Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) menyatakan, gempa bumi pertama terjadi pukul 20:08:15 WIB kemudian diikuti 2 gempa beruntun yang dirasakan oleh masyarakat di lokasi yang berdekatan.
“Hasil analisa BMKG menunjukkan bahwa gempa bumi pertama berkekuatan M=3,2, selanjutnya M=3,0 dan M=2,5,” ujar Kepala BBMKG Wilayah II Tangerang, Hartanto dalam laporannya yang diterima sukabumiupdate.com.
Hartanto menuturkan, episenter gempa bumi pertama terletak pada koordinat 6.74 LS dan 106.55 BT, atau tepatnya berlokasi di darat pada jarak 27 km utara Kabupaten Sukabumi pada kedalaman 8 km, kemudian episenter 2 gempa bumi lainnya terletak di lokasi yang berdekatan.
“Dengan memperhatikan lokasi episenter dan kedalaman hiposenternya, gempa bumi yang terjadi merupakan jenis gempa bumi dangkal akibat aktivitas sesar lokal wilayah setempat,” jelasnya.
Baca Juga: Bertambah Jadi 570, Rumah Rusak di Kabandungan: Gempa Gunung Salak Sukabumi
Adapun dampak gempa bumi pertama M 3,2 yang digambarkan oleh peta tingkat guncangan (Shakemap) BMKG dan berdasarkan laporan dari masyarakat, gempa ini dirasakan di wilayah Pamijahan, Leuwiliang dan Kabandungan dengan Skala Intensitas II - III MMI (Getaran dirasakan oleh beberapa orang, benda-benda ringan yang digantung bergoyang-Getaran dirasakan nyata dalam rumah, terasa getaran seakan-akan ada truk berlalu).
“Namun hingga saat ini belum ada laporan mengenai kerusakan bangunan sebagai dampak gempa bumi tersebut,” kata Hartanto.
Berdasarkan monitoring gempa bumi sejak tanggal 6 Desember 2023 hingga 27 Desember 2023 pukul 20.30 WIB, lanjut Hartanto, sudah terjadi gempa bumi sebanyak 117 kali di lokasi yang berdekatan, 10 diantaranya dirasakan oleh masyarakat.
“Kepada masyarakat dihimbau agar tetap tenang dan tidak terpengaruh oleh isu yang tidak dapat dipertanggungjawabkan kebenarannya. Pastikan informasi resmi hanya bersumber dari BMKG yang disebarkan melalui kanal komunikasi resmi yang telah terverifikasi,” tandasnya.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the 5th National Meeting of Mothers in Pyongyang in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on December 5, 2023. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered its military, the munitions industry and the nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the U.S., state media said on Thursday.
Speaking on the policy directions for the new year at a key meeting of the country's ruling party on Wednesday, Kim also said Pyongyang would expand strategic cooperation with "anti-imperialist independent" countries, news agency KCNA reported.
"He (Kim) set forth the militant tasks for the People's Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defence sectors to further accelerate the war preparations," KCNA said.
North Korea has been expanding ties with Russia, among others, as Washington accuses Pyongyang of supplying military equipment to Moscow for use in its war with Ukraine, while Russia provides technical support to help the North advance its military capabilities.
Kim also laid out economic goals for the new year during the meeting, calling it a "decisive year" to accomplish the country's five-year development plan, the report said.
"He ... clarified the important tasks for the new year to be dynamically pushed forward in the key industrial sectors," and called for "stabilising the agricultural production on a high level."
The North has suffered serious food shortages in recent decades, including famine in the 1990s, often as a result of natural disasters. International experts have warned that border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened food security.
North Korea's crop output was estimated to have increased year-on-year in 2023 due to favourable weather conditions. But a Seoul official has said the amount was still far below what is needed to address the country's chronic food shortages.
The 9th plenary meeting of the 8th central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea kicked off on Tuesday to wrap up a year during which the isolated North enshrined nuclear policy in its constitution, launched a spy satellite and fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile.
The days-long assembly of the party and government officials has been used in recent years to make key policy announcements. Previously, state media released Kim's speech on New Year's Day.
Saudi Arabia Not Interested in Joining US-Led Red Sea Coalition Against Houthis - Reports
Saudi Arabia has no interest in taking part in the new US-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, prioritizing domestic security and economic development instead, The New York Times reported, citing US and Saudi officials.
The kingdom views the prospect of peace on its southern border "a more appealing goal" compared to joining any naval action after eight years of war with the rebel movement that drained Saudi coffers and helped drive Yemen into one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, the newspaper reported on Monday.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, whom the report described as the kingdom's "de facto" ruler, wants to transform it into a business hub by 2030 and seeks to resolve conflicts and soothe tensions across the Middle East, including through a rapprochement with Iran, its regional rival.
Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces and the Houthi rebels since 2014. The situation exacerbated in March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition, working in cooperation with the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, began conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis. The latter have retaliated by attacking Saudi forces and firing missiles into Saudi Arabia.
After the armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas escalated in October, the Houthis have intensified their attacks on cargo ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, vowing to continue them until Israel ends its military actions in the Gaza Strip.
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a multinational operation to secure the Red Sea amid the surge in Houthis' attacks on cargo ships, saying that the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles, and Spain would take part in the mission. The Houthis, for their part, vowed to attack any ships that join the US-led maritime coalition
Yemenis chant slogans during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza in the Houthi-controlled city of Sanaa on Dec. 27, 2023. (AFP)
AL-MUKALLA - Yemen’s Houthis militia has recruited tens of thousands of Yemenis who would supposedly fight the Israelis in Gaza, prompting fears in Yemen that those warriors will only fight Houthi opponents in Yemen.
Yemen’s government authorities, as well as military and political observers, have accused the Iran-backed Houthis of leveraging widespread popular fury in Yemen over Israel’s brutal shelling of Gaza to recruit thousands of Yemenis.
“This is another one of the Houthis’ falsehoods. They do not have the military, geographical, or political resources to deploy anybody to Gaza,” military analyst Brig. Gen. Mohammed Al-Kumaim told Arab News on Wednesday.
The Houthis have been encouraging individuals in densely populated regions under their control to undergo military training as part of their alleged mobilization efforts to help Palestinians over the last two months.
On Sunday, the Houthis organized a military parade for 20,000 recruits who graduated from short military courses in Abes district, Hajja’s northern province, where thousands of people dressed in traditional Yemeni attire raised Yemeni and Palestinian flags, waved their weapons and chanted anti-Israel and anti-America slogans.
The Houthis had earlier organized a military parade in Sanaa for 16,000 individuals who were reported to have graduated from the training and will purportedly battle the Israelis in Palestine.
The Houthis did not specify how they planned to get those troops to Palestine, raising concerns in Yemen that their recruits will be used to fuel Houthi military activities even as the UN Yemen envoy is close to providing a road map for ending the conflict in Yemen.
Al-Kumaim said that the Houthis saw the public outrage over what is happening in Gaza as an opportunity to boost their popularity and recruit people into their ranks, primarily because people refused to join them on the battlefields during the UN-brokered truce that went into effect in April last year.
“The Houthis discovered that, despite holding six military parades, military mobilization had deteriorated during the truce, so they used the events in Gaza as an excuse to reactivate mobilization,” Al-Kumaim said.
By enrolling thousands of volunteer warriors through their brief military training courses, the Houthis would not be committed to giving them money or treating them if they were injured on the battlefields, and they would not take care of their families after they died.
“The events in Gaza provided the Houthis with a justification to mobilize in this manner so that they do not pay wages or provide care to the warriors and consider them to be part of the framework of sacrifice and jihad,” Al-Kumaim said.
At the same time, Yemeni military officers on the ground have said that the Houthis have begun to deploy many of those freshly recruited individuals around the nation.
Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military official in Taiz, told Arab News that some of the newly recruited fighters had been dispatched to contested areas in Taiz, Hodeidah, and Al-Dhale, with some refusing to join the battlefield and returning home after realizing Houthi slogans had duped them.
“Fighters who graduated from the Houthi military camp in Yarim (Ibb province) have already been transferred to the battles in Taiz, the western coastline, and Al-Dhale,” Al-Baher said.
Iran Threatens Retaliation Against Israel Amidst Rising Tensions
In a recent development, Iran has threatened retaliation against Israel following the assassination of high-ranking Iranian General Seyed Razi Mousavi in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria. The Iranian Defence Ministry spokesman, Reza Talaei-Nik, called the attack a violation of Syria’s territorial integrity and an escalation of tension in the region. The IDF, meanwhile, is planning to increase its offensive against Hamas, sending a clear message that the organization cannot survive this conflict.
The killing of Razi Mousavi, a senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, is seen as a significant development in the ongoing conflict. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps warns Israel of ‘direct’ action in response to the killing, hinting at heightened tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The response, as mentioned by IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif, will also involve other entities led by the Axis of Resistance.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has cautioned that the country is under attack from seven different fronts, including Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Iran. Amidst this chaos, the U.S. has been responding to attacks by Iran-backed militants, leading to an escalation of tensions in the region.
Should the conflict continue to escalate, the U.S. is at risk of being dragged into an ‘all-out regional war’ in the Middle East, suggests the National Iranian American Council. Turkish and Israeli leaders have already engaged in a war of words over Israeli actions in Gaza, further escalating tensions.
Meanwhile, Iran-backed group Kataib Hezbollah has been blamed for attacking U.S. bases in Iraq, leading to retaliatory airstrikes by U.S. forces. The escalating conflict has also affected commercial operations in the Red Sea, a vital transit route, with large merchant companies halting their operations.
As the conflict continues, Yemen’s Houthi militia is reportedly recruiting thousands of Yemenis to fight against Israel in Gaza, sparking fears of further escalation. Amidst these developments, Egypt has welcomed the appointment of Sigrid Kaag as the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, emphasizing the need for a ceasefire.
The Middle East region remains tense, with Iranian-backed militias having attacked U.S. troops around 100 times since October 17, shortly after the Israel-Hamas war began. The U.S. is committed to taking further necessary measures to protect its people and facilities and has set up a maritime task force to deter Iranian-backed rebel groups. The only way for tensions to ease across the Middle East is if the war in Gaza reaches a ceasefire or significantly slows down.
Since the start of special military operation, Russia boosted the production of drones to conduct precise surgical strikes against the adversary.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense published footage that shows Russian airborne troops destroying Ukrainian units with FPV-drones near Artemovsk (formerly known as Bakhmut).
The video clip shows drone operators directing strikes against the Kiev regime's forces. According to Ministry of Defense, airborne troops detected the enemy during the course of regular reconnaissance and immediately sent FPV-drone to neutralize them. The Ukrainian troops noticed the drone and started firing at it, but to no avail.
The second drone made coup de grace, eliminating survivors and militants who tried to flee.
Watch Russian Snipers Operate in Ukrainian Conflict Zone
Silent and deadly, snipers of the Russian Armed Forces continue to methodically chip away at Ukrainian troops one hostile at a time.
A short video released online by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows a Russian sniper team in action in the Ukrainian conflict zone.
In the video, the team can be seen cautiously advancing to a firing position where the sniper prepares to take a shot while the spotter keeps watch.
Having taken the shot, the team quickly packs their gear and proceeds to exfiltrate before the enemy has a chance to react.
Ukraine Plotting False Flag With Chemical Weapons, Warns Russian Foreign Ministry
Russian officials have documented at least 23 cases in which Ukraine has used arms that contain toxic substances. Under international law, using chemical weapons is deemed a war crime.
Moscow believes that Ukraine may be cooking up an “anti-Russian false flag operation with the use of Western-made poisonous substances” with the aim of pinning the blame on Moscow for the usage of such chemical weapons, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cautioned
“Quite possibly, another anti-Russian provocation is being set up employing Western-made poisonous substances in order to launch a new campaign within the UN's structures and throughout the global media to accuse our country of the allegedly deliberate use of chemical weapons,” she warned.
Earlier, Sputnik reported that Russia had sent 23 notes to the secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concerning Ukraine's use of toxic substances as chemical weapons. However, the OPCW was reluctant to send any of its experts to the special military operation zone.
In August, a high-ranking Russian military doctor said that the Kiev regime had used shells containing white phosphorous in Zaporozhye. This toxic substance causes severe burns and acute poisoning, as well as tissue necrosis. Moscow believes that Western countries are supplying Ukraine with such noxious chemicals.
This winter, a video emerged on the Internet showing the Ukrainian military loading canisters onto drones. Experts suggested that these vessels could likely contain phosgene, a substance explicitly prohibited by the United Nations' Chemical Weapons Convention.
