August 21, 2025 | 10:55 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The earthquake that hit Bekasi on Wednesday night, August 20, 2025, has raised concerns about the safety at the Jatiluhur Dam. Victor Rembeth, a pastor from the Commission for Disaster Risk Reduction of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), believes that the strategic dam, which is over half a century old, is at risk if not reinforced.
"When it comes to infrastructure, the most at risk is indeed the Jatiluhur Dam. I have never heard of any retrofitting being done there, yet it's over 50 years old. Strategic dams like this should have been reinforced," Victor said when contacted on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
A Disaster Waiting to Happen
According to Victor, earthquakes with a shallow depth of 10 kilometers, like the one that struck Bekasi last night, could impact large-scale infrastructure. Even small cracks are enough to cause a disaster, he said. "If the dam ruptures, it doesn't even need to collapse; a small gap is enough to make the water seep, and that is dangerous," he said.
He believes that a greater risk could occur if a stronger earthquake were to hit the region. "With tremors above 5 or 6 MMI (scale), cracks can appear and water could enter the gap, increasing the vulnerability of the structure," he said.
Victor believes that the Jatiluhur Dam rupture could potentially cause a large-scale hydrological disaster, recalling other major flash floods in the country's history. "Purwakarta, Karawang, Subang, and down to Bekasi could be affected. The Citarum River could turn into something like a tsunami. We can learn from the flash flood in Manado in 2014, the force of the water can devastate a city," he said.
He added that the National Earthquake Study Center has recently adjusted the potential tremor points from 200 to 400, a situation that demands a reinforced vital infrastructure in the country.
"All strategic infrastructure should have been retrofitted by the relevant ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Public Works and others," he said.
Victor warned that earthquakes differ from other disasters, as they evade early warning systems. "Tsunamis, volcanoes, and floods can still have an early warning. If the Jatiluhur Dam ruptures, the window of time for early warning is much too short," he said.
Victor mentioned three steps the government must take to anticipate such disasters: strengthening the dam through retrofitting; preparing a cross-regency and provincial contingency plan involving the military, police, and the West Java and Jakarta governments; and third, capacity-building through disaster-resilient villages.
Bekasi Earthquake Struck Late Wednesday
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) previously reported a 4.9 magnitude earthquake at 07:54 p.m. local time, with the epicenter located 14 kilometers southeast of Bekasi Regency, West Java, at a depth of 10 kilometers.
The inland earthquake was felt the strongest in Bekasi and Purwakarta, at a III MMI scale, akin to a truck passing by while indoors. Meanwhile, in Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang, and Sukabumi, the tremors were recorded at an MMI scale of II-III.
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