JAKARTA, 15 Julai: Seramai 20 keluarga dilaporkan terjejas manakala 38 rumah mengalami kerosakan susulan gempa bumi bermagnitud 5.3 yang melanda wilayah Poso, Sulawesi Tengah pada malam Isnin.

Gempa berlaku sekitar jam 8.52 malam waktu tempatan dengan pusat gegaran terletak 67 kilometer di barat daya Poso dan 82 kilometer barat laut Luwu Timur, pada kedalaman 10 kilometer.

Menurut Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG), gegaran turut dirasai di beberapa kawasan berhampiran termasuk Morowali Utara, Luwu Timur dan Kota Palopo.

Jurucakap Badan Nasional Pengurusan Bencana (BNPB), Abdul Muhari berkata, tiada kemalangan jiwa dilaporkan setakat ini, namun pasukan pemantau dan penyelamat masih menjalankan penilaian kerosakan dan keperluan bantuan di lokasi terjejas.

“Pasukan kami terus melakukan pemutakhiran data dan pemantauan di lapangan. Orang ramai dinasihatkan agar kekal waspada terhadap kemungkinan gempa susulan serta tidak terpengaruh dengan maklumat tidak sahih,” kata BMKG dalam satu kenyataan malam ini.

Kerajaan tempatan kini menjalankan koordinasi bersama agensi berkaitan untuk memastikan bantuan dan tindakan susulan dapat dilaksanakan segera.

TO reduce radiation across Japan's northern Fukushima region after the 2011 nuclear disaster, authorities scraped a layer of contaminated soil from swathes of land.

Now, as young farmers seek to bring life back to the region once known for its delicious fruit, authorities are deliberating what to do with the mass of removed soil — enough to fill more than 10 baseball stadiums.

Topsoil was collected as part of largescale decontamination efforts that also included blasting buildings and roads with high-pressure jets of water.

Almost all areas of Fukushima have gradually been declared safe, but many evacuees have been reluctant to return because they remain worried about radiation, or have fully resettled elsewhere.

Fukushima has, however, welcomed new residents such as 25-year-old kiwi farmer Takuya Haraguchi. "I want people to become interested in and learn about what Fukushima is really like these days," he said.

A vast quantity of soil — 14 million cubic metres — is being stored at interim storage facilities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The huge mounds are kept inside guarded grounds, protected by layers of clean soil and man-made sheets to prevent runoff into the environment.

The government wants to use the soil for building road and railway embankments, among other projects. It has vowed to do this outside Fukushima to avoid further burdening the region.

Around 75 per cent of the stored soil has a radioactivity level equivalent to or less than one X-ray per year for people who directly stand on or work with it, according to the Environment Ministry.

Asphalt, farm soil or layers of other materials should be used to seal in the radioactivity, said Akira Asakawa, a ministry official working on the Fukushima soil project.

In a test, the government has con- structed roads and fields in Fukushima by using the contaminated soil as filling material.

Those locations did not show elevated levels of radioactivity, and there was no runoff of radioactive material to surrounding areas, Asakawa said.

YANGON: On July 14 at around 7:04 AM, a magnitude 3.4 weak earthquake was detected in Myanmar, centered at latitude 21.84°N, longitude 99.33°E, northwest of the Kengtung seismic station and Mong Khat town, at a depth of 15 kilometres, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

Earlier that morning also, at 4:06 AM, a magnitude 3.0 earthquake occurred near Matara town, at a depth of 10 kilometres. At 3:33 AM, a magnitude 4.0 quake struck southeast of Htigyaing town, at a depth of 11 kilometres. At 12:01 AM, a magnitude 3.8 tremor was recorded east-northeast of Wandwin town, at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Additionally, on July 13 at 11:18 PM, a magnitude 3.2 earthquake had shaken an area east-northeast of Patheingyi town, at a depth of 19 kilometres. - Eleven Media/ANN