Jakarta Rocks

Congregation of people outside of Grand Indonesia

At 14:55 hours today, Jakarta was rocked by the tremor of a 7.3 Richter scale earthquake in Tasik, West Java. I had just walked into the newest, biggest, most luxurious mall in Jakarta: Grand Indonesia, when I felt my legs swayed. For a second I thought I was about to fall, then just as the word "Earthquake" started forming in my head, I heard people screaming, "earthquake!" and footsteps. Turning my head around I saw mobs of people running outside.

My brain switched from logic and rationality to instinct and survival mode. I walked out calmly praying that the people behind wouldn't be running and trampled me down. Once outside, I made my way as far as possible from the buildings which was no easy feat in Central Jakarta. People were milling about the entrance and under the bridge that connects the West and East parts of the mall. I wanted to shout at them to clear off the bridge, but they were all panicking and I didn't want to create any chaos.

Throughout I wondered:

1. Was this building built to withstand tremors and/or earthquakes?

2. Has the management of the building have any emergency evacuation plan?

3. Has the management ever do an emergency evacuation drills for the people working there?

I wondered because, 1. even if I got outside safely what chance do I have if the building were to collapse sideways instead of vertically if it were indeed built to withstand tremors. When I was working in Singapore I did experienced some tremors from the 15th floor and those episodes were mild compared to this one which I experienced on the ground floor. I couldn't help remembering the news about the plane crash about a month and a half ago of an airplane from France, (not the Brazil one) where a 14 year old girl survived against all odds. It reaffirmed my belief that if it's not your time to go, you won't die (lest you do something stupid). Today, I remembered that news story and even though I trembled from the quake I had the peace of mind and the gut feeling that all is going to be alright.

One of the victim who fainted (my guess only)

Number 2 & 3 was a result of the panics that I saw in the faces of the employees when they were running and being outside. Some of them had the look of absolute terror in their faces, some were limping because they were about to faint, some did faint. Jakarta is a great city, but unfortunately corruptions are still rampant and I wonder if for the sake of time and money some of the important measures such as emergency evacuation drills are skipped. Some of them were running to go out rather than walking which is the recommended action. Running, not only increased panic but also endangered others as you might accidentally knock people down and trampled them over. People were scattered all over the places as there were no obvious re-assembly area where the emergency leader/fire warden could count off the employees. I hope that the management will plan emergency evacuation plan and practice the drills for the sake of everyone.

Most people around the mall left unscathed though there were 3 or 4 people who fainted that I saw around me. A friend who was at the 48th level was noticeably pale and drained. If it was that forceful on the ground level I shudder to imagine what it would have been like on the 48th floor.

Rumors were milling around on the foundation of the structure. I wonder if the public will ever hear the truth. An hour or so later, the management declared the mall safe to re-enter, but at that point most preferred to stay low on the ground or to go home even if it meant braving the rush hour traffic during the Ramadhan fasting month. I certainly did.

Were you there? Share your stories on the comment post below.