Pengaruh Risiko Bencana Letusan Gunung Sinabung terhadap Kesiapsiagaan Kepala Keluarga di Kecamatan Naman Teran Kabupaten Karo

Abstract

Mount Sinabung located in Karo District, Province of Sumatera Utara is one of the active volcanoes in Indonesia. Its eruption occurred in 2010 made thousands of people living in its vicinity evacuated to the safer places. Since that eruption, its eruption time span has increased from level B (this mountain is predicted to have erupted 400 years ago) to level A (it is active again after sleeping for 4 centuries). Geological Disaster Mitigation and Volcanology Center divides the eruption area of Mount Sinabung into 3 (three) risk categories: a) Risk Zone I or very high risk zone (less than 3 kilometers from the eruption center), b) Risk Zone II or high risk zone (3 - 4 kilometers from the eruption center), and c) Risk Zone III or moderate risk zone (5 - 6 kilometers from the eruption center). Naman Teran Subdistrict is one of the subdistricts with high risk to the hazards of Mount Sinabung. The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the influence of the disaster risk of the eruption of Mount Sinabung on the disaster alertness and preparedness (knowledge, attitude, emergency response plan, and resource mobilization) of the heads of families in Naman Teran Subdistrict, Karo District in 2011. The population of this study was 2,327 heads of families in 9 (nine) villages of Naman Teran Subdistrict, and 366 head of families were selected to be the samples for this study by using proportional sampling method. The data for this study were obtained through questionnaire-based interviews and the observation done in the residence of the respondents as the basic to determine the disaster zones of the eruption of Mount Sinabung. The data obtained were analyzed through multiple regression analysis (t - test). The result of this study showed that statistically the factor of disaster risk of the eruption of Mount Sinabung, in general, had influence on the alertness and preparedness (knowledge, attitude, emergency response plan, and resource mobilization) of the head of families (t count< 0.05). The Government, related agencies and the community members especially those living or doing their activities in the vicinity of Mount Sinabung are suggested: 1) the District Government Karo is to socialize the dangerous threat of the eruption of Mount Sinabung and how to anticipate it to the community members, 2) the District Government of Karo is to prepare communication facilities in all of the villages located in the vicinity of Mount Sinabung that it will be easy to coordinate in anticipating the threat of the danger of the disaster, 3) the District Government of Karo needs to make a policy to relocate the settlements in the Villages of Suka Meriah, Bekerah and Simacem because these villages are located in the opening crater of Mount Sinabung that they are at risk of lava flood, 4) the Community members should follow Government's direction which is always informed by the Geological Disaster Mitigation and Volcanology Center, and 5) the District Government of Karo needs to facilitate the establishment of village volunteers who are provided with continuous trainings on disaster emergency response.