The Lembang Fault (Indonesian: Sesar Lembang) is an active fault located 10 km north of the city of

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

on the

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. This sinistral slip fault is estimated to measure 29 km in length. While no historical earthquakes have occurred, the fault is thought to be possible of generating a magnitude () 6.5 to 7.0

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

in the future. Because of the potential for large and damaging earthquakes on the fault, the

Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency ( id, Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika, abbreviated BMKG) is an Indonesian non-departmental government agency for meteorology, climatology, and geophysics. History Its history began ...

(BMKG) has been monitoring activity on the fault.

Activity

Paleoseismic trenching along the fault in a 2019 study uncovered three earthquakes in the 15th century, 2300–60 BCE and 19,620–19,140 BP with a recurrence interval of 170 to 670 years.

Threat

The

Indonesian Institute of Sciences The Indonesian Institute of Sciences ( id, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, or LIPI) was the governmental authority for science and research in Indonesia. It consists of 47 research centers in the fields ranging from social to natural scien ...

has urged that the Government of Indonesia educate the residents in nearby population centers about the dangers of a damaging earthquake on the fault. In 2019, the BMKG said that 22 seismic monitoring devices would be installed around that fault to monitor its activity and detect movements. Earthquakes can cause IDR 51 Trillion ($3.5 Billion) worth of damage, exceeding that of the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

. It is estimated that around 2.5 million homes would be affected, including one million lightly damaged. Another million others seriously damaged and 500 thousand homes collapsed. An estimated four million would be displaced and 180,000 injured and 80,000 may be killed.

References

{{Reflist Geology of Indonesia Seismic faults of Indonesia