Indonesia maps quake-prone areas

The Indonesian Volcanology and Disaster Mitigation Agency and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry have been joining forces to map areas in the archipelago country that are prone to earthquakes, local press reported Monday. Head of the agency Surono said that the map would be provincial in scale and would be completed in 2014. "We are now making maps for Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, and after that, we will do the same work for the country's eastern region," he was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying. He added that his office was working in cooperation with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Public Works Ministry and provincial administrations. Indonesia has been frequently hit by powerful earthquake that left massive fatality and damages.