The area of Lake Singkarak, which is located in Solok and Tanah Datar districts, West Sumatra, increases every year due to natural processes. Residents around the lake were asked not to panic.
“The lake is getting wider over time because there is a geological term called fault valley, which is a lake formed by plate fractures,” said the Head of the Indonesian Geological Experts Association (IAGI) West Sumatra Regional Administrators, Dian Hadiyansyah, during an FGD in Batusangkar, West Sumatra, quoted from Antara, Thursday (24/10/2019).
He said, in a geological time scale, the movement of these faults can take a long time, reaching tens, thousands, even millions of years.
“It is a normal geological process because it is formed from a fault. The process of change is not fast, in decades it has moved only a few centimeters,” he said.
However, the movement process is only an ordinary geological process, and does not have a negative impact on the residents who live in the area.
In relation to the development of Lake Singkarak into a national geopark, geologically, Lake Singkarak has high heritage and diversity values that are no less than the geopark of Lake Toba.
It is hoped that with the designation of Lake Toba as a global geopark by UNESCO, Lake Singkarak will soon follow along with the Below and Above Lakes. This is because the two lakes have the same process, namely one Sumatra fault line.
SOurce Antara
