THE EFFECT OF SHIFTING ON THE EARTH'S PLATES

ACCURACY OF QIBLAT DIRECTION

(This thesis was prepared by: Thiopan Riahdo Purba)

Geologically, Indonesia is located in a volcanic chain zone called the "Ring of Fire" in
the theory of plate tectonics (Plate Tectonics), This zone indicates the active movement of the
earth's plates towards each other rub and collide with each other. Collision and heating which
causes tectonic earthquakes. Geophysicists such as F. Vine and D Metthews say that the earth
consists of the earth's crust, the earth's mantle and the earth's core. Crust itself are pieces of plates
that float on the media soft or thick liquid. From here emerged the theory of plate tectonics
assumes that the entire surface or crust of the earth is composed of several large plates consisting
of continental plates and plates ocean.

Tectonic plates are constantly moving relative to each other others, this is proven
according to current observations. The movements that occur in these plates are gradual, some
are moving separating, passing each other, growling together or colliding with each other. One of
the possible causes of the earth's plates shifting is because there is a transfer of heat currents
from the earth's core up to the blanket the earth or into the earth's crust, then some of the hot
elements turn into magma and form the edges of new plates.This is the movement which triggers
earthquakes, both earthquakes with strength powerful or only small scale.

Each plate has a plate edge, as the author has stated convey in chapter 2. The edge of the
plate, namely:

(1) Constructive Edge. This edge is at the location of the mid-ocean ridge, which is the path
of two plates moving away from each other. But second The plates do not separate due to
the formation of a plate crust only gradually.

(2) Destructive Edge. This edge is a path between two plates that collide with each other
collide. Usually the location is in a formed ocean trench due to subduction of the oceanic
plate beneath the edge of the continental plate.

(3) Conservative Edge. At this edge the two plates just rub together the border. This is what
causes large earthquakes, usually accompanied by volcanic activity.

According to researchers, Indonesia is in the destructive edge category, because at this

edge there is subduction between the ocean plate and the ocean plate continental plates, namely
the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate. Indonesia is also a country in meeting area 4
(four) plates that are actively moving, namely the Indo-Australian plate, plate Pacific, Philippine
plate, and Eurasian plate. Eurasian Plate collides with the Indo-Australian plate and forms a
subduction zone in the southern area of the island of Java so that the tectonics of the island of
Java were formed as a result convergent event where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate moves
towards north at a speed of 7 cm/year subducting under the tectonic plate Relatively silent
Eurasia. These allowances result in levels high seismicity and the formation of active volcanoes.

Subduction is a phenomenon that occurs at boundaries converging between two plates of

different susceptibility resulting in one plate moves under the other plate and sinks towards
earth's mantle. At the subduction zone of the island of Java, the Eurasian plate is pressing Indo-
Australian plate and moving downwards. This happens because The Eurasian plate is rigid while
the Indo-Australian plate is flexible. As a result, basins and troughs are formed (trenches) around
this zone such as Java Trench and Java Ridge. Java The trench itself has a depth of around 6000-
7000 meters.

Semarang city is one of the big cities on the island Java. The island of Java itself is the
most densely populated region of Indonesia its inhabitants. The southern part of Java Island as a
whole has Ranking of Indonesia's Earthquake Prone Areas. That area to be precise is in Central
Java which has been designated as an earthquake-prone area Indonesia's Earth number VII, this
is because it is based on the history of destructive earthquakes that have hit the region. Severe
damage often occurs occurs in this region because of its position close to the subduction zone in
southern Indonesia.

A research was conducted by Avrilina Luthfil Hadi, Ira Mutiara Anjasmara, and Meiriska
Yusfania about the speed of shift tectonic plates in the southern part of Central Java. The
research utilizing Ina-CORS (Indonesia Continuously Operating Reference) data Station),
namely the active geodetic control net in Indonesia in the form of Global stations Navigation
Satellite System (GNSS) is permanent on the earth's surface equipped with a GNSS satellite
signal recorder, antenna and system data communication. The station can receive signals from
GNSS satellites continuously 24 hours every day and can provide services position correction on
the user. Regarding scientific matters, Ina- CORS can be used to maintain the level of accuracy
and precision from the basic geodetic framework that has been built so that it can support
implementation of an accurate national mapping reference framework and implementation of
basic mapping. Apart from that, Ina-CORS can also be used for monitoring the movement of the
earth's plates, geodynamic studies, atmospheric research, ionosphere, as well as for earthquakes
and tsunamis.

The research location is the island of Java, specifically Java The southern part includes
the cities where BIG's CORS GPS station (Ina-CORS) is located. The Ina-CORS station used is
CBTL at Bantul, CCLP in Cilacap, CKBN in Kebumen, CSLO in Solo, CMGL in Magelang, and
CPBL in Purbalingga. This research was conducted in 2013-2015, which analyzes horizontal
speed values and values vertical speed.
 Horizontal speed values have varying speed values every year at each observation station.
Shift value in 2014 has a greater value compared to 2013 and 2013 2015. The CBTL station in
Bantul has the largest shift with a value of 33.75 mm/year. This can be caused by volcanic
activity because this station is close to an active volcano in Java, namely Mount Merapi or due to
the movement of active faults in the area Yogyakarta. There is an active fault whose existence is
thought to be in along the Opak river so it is named the Opak fault which has a distance not far
from Bantul.

For data in 2013 and 2015, the largest speed was found at the CCLP station in Cilacap. Cilacap is
at the southern tip Central Java is the closest station to the southern subduction zone Java Island.
The value of the horizontal shift speed in 2013 for CCLP is 12.21 mm/year and in 2015 it was
15.14 mm/year.

The vertical speed results obtained in 2013 have two negative values, namely at the
CPBL station in Purbalingga and the CSLO station who is in Solo. In GMT plotting results,
negative values are marked with arrow pointing downwards. The greatest value is at the CCLP
station namely with a value of 3.73 mm/year. Vertical shift speed in 2014 positive value at all
observation stations. Meanwhile in 2015 The speed value is inversely proportional to the
previous year, namely having negative value at each station. The largest vertical speed value in
the year 2014 was at the CCLP station with a vertical speed value of 46.17 mm/year and in 2015,
the CCLP station had the smallest negative value with a value of -29.57 mm/year.

The results of this research stated that:

(1) The horizontal speed value of the Ina-CORS observation station has a value that changes
every year with an up and down trend. Mark The greatest speed in 2013 and 2015 was at
the station CCLP with values of 12.21 mm/year and 15.14 respectively mm/year. The
largest speed value in 2014 was at the station CBTL with a speed value of 33.75
mm/year.

(2) The vertical speed value has different values, namely positive and negative. In 2013,
CPBL stations had negative values and CSLO, however, the largest speed value is owned
by the CCLP station with a value of 3.73 mm/year. In 2014 the vertical speed was
greatest is the CCLP station with a value of 46.17 mm/year and in 2015 the smallest
vertical speed was the CKBM station in Kebumen with speed value -49.84 mm/year.
Meanwhile, the speed value is the largest is a CCLP station with a vertical speed of -
29.57 mm/year.

(3) Direction of horizontal shift at each observation station in three year, that is, it has the
same direction, namely the southeast direction according to The direction of the shift of
the Eurasian plate is towards the southeast
 In this analysis the author uses macro theory, where the data is The author will attribute
this to the deviation that occurred in Qibla direction in Semarang City. The data the author uses
is data from results of the Ina-Cors CCLP station in Cilacap in 2013-2015 which is the
southernmost location in Central Java. Plate movements recorded by CCLP station stated that in
2013 the horizontal velocity was approx 12 mm/year and in 2015 the speed was around 15
mm/year. So if taking the smallest shift value from the two, it can be concluded that each every
year it occurs around 12 mm/year.

If the movement of the earth's plates every year is calculated to be the same and stable
then the age of the mosque which is 221 years old is multiplied by 12 mm, then it is currently
The Layur Menara Mosque has currently experienced a shift of 2,652 meters. At that distance, if
you follow the coordinate distance then 2.6 meters does not affect the change in coordinates so it
cannot be affected shift in Qibla direction. Likewise with the existing Taqwa Sekayu Mosque
608 years old, when compared with the movement of the earth's plates 12 mm/year, the current
position of the mosque has moved around 7,296 meters or rounded up to 7.3 meters. This
distance is also still included in the same coordinates so that there is no shift in the earth's plates
affects the accuracy of the Qibla direction. Moreover, the shifting of the earth's plates moving
horizontally towards the southeast, where there is no deviation from the Qibla direction parallel
or opposite to the shift that occurs.

The polemic regarding the issue of the movement of tectonic plates is still ongoing has
become a problem among Indonesian society. This is because Indonesia is located on the border
between the Eurasian Plate, the Indo- Australia, and the Philippine Plate. Anxiety that arises in
society that the shift of the plate affects the direction of the qibla of mosques old in Indonesia.

Moedji Raharto, Astronomer at the Bandung Institute of Technology said that the
movement of tectonic plates has no effect on the direction of the Qibla. This is because the plate
movement in a year is less than one millionth of a degree, so practically it does not affect the
geographic latitude and longitude position Mecca or the position of the observer. Within a year
the speed of movement plates 1-10 centimeters or move a thousand kilometers in ten up to one
hundred million years. “Changes in the position of the observer and the Kaaba due to tectonic
plate movements over years or hundreds of years are still relatively small for purposes of
determining the direction of the Qibla.

Apart from the issue of shifting tectonic plates, there is also the issue of earthquakes hot
discussion among the community, especially in vulnerable areas there will be an earthquake.
Because earthquakes have the potential to affect shifting of buildings and land, so many think it
is necessary to re-measure the direction of the Qibla.

Tectonic earthquakes are earthquakes caused by events tectinosm is the breaking or

folding of tectonic plates. Earthquake Tectonics is the most common type of earthquake. Plate
tectonics in simple terms it can be thought of as the earth's crust moving. Crust The dense and
rigid (lithosphere) is the outermost layer of the earth, with thickness an average of 40 Km floats
above the very layer of the envelope (Asthenosphere). hot and very thick (more than 1000 km).

Tectonic earthquakes occur when parts of the earth's crust cover a certain area on the side
of a fault suddenly springs, releasing energy as vibrations, the magnitude of which is expressed
in earthquake magnitude. This part of the earth's crust is the source of so-called tectonic
earthquakes fracture zone (Rupture). Fracture zones can appear on the earth's surface as The
cracks are patterned over a certain area, but they may not be. The area of the fracture zone and
the magnitude of the bending are proportional to the magnitude of the earthquake. For example,
in the Yogyakarta earthquake on May 27 2006, the fracture zone was 25 times wider 13 square
km with a bend of 60 cm (average).

Muh. Ma'rufin Sudibyo in the book The Prophet Turns (Arah Qibla and Procedures for
Measuring it) have tested whether the shift the earth's surface due to tectonic earthquakes can
create the direction of the Qibla shifted. Because the displacement on the surface is directly
proportional to the magnitude earthquake, and the location of the research was carried out on
Simeulue Island, namely at Aie Village (South Simeulue). Where on December 26 2004 it was
There was a large Sumatra-Andaman earthquake with an extraordinary fracture zone large,
namely 1600 by 200 square km, which stretches from Simeulue Island (Aceh) in the south to
Preparis Island (Myanmar) in the north.

Seismological analysis in the area shows this location has been raised 46-48 centimeters
so that the displacement component is horizontal at Its surface is 20 meters. Set at point A, which
has coordinates 2°34'55.77" N and 95°57'42.85" E and point A1 which is 20 meters apart from
point A to an azimuth of 225° (i.e. the direction of horizontal displacement on the surface).
Obtained coordinates of point A1 are 2°34'55.28" N and 95°57'42.42" E.

Because the big earthquake caused point A to shift until it occupied point A1, the shift in
Qibla direction due to the earthquake is equivalent to the difference in Qibla direction between
points A and A1, namely 0°0'0.374". Angular shift 0°0'0.374" is much smaller than the ihtiyatul
qibla value of 0°24', even smaller than the 0°0'0.5" accuracy limit of the theodolite instrument
latest. Therefore, he could conclude that the earthquake was large Sumatra-Andaman 26
December 2004 did not cause a shift in direction Qibla. If a large earthquake does not have an
impact on the direction of the Qibla, what more? smaller tectonic earthquakes.

Not only that, Evi Dahliatin Nuroini from UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim (Malang) in his
thesis entitled "The Influence of Shifting Earth Plates on Determining the Qibla Direction of
Mosques in the City Yoyakarta”, he concluded that earthquakes can change position latitude and
longitude of the location where the earthquake occurred, but in the order of seconds arc. This
change also affects the direction of the Qibla. However, changes The direction of the Qibla also
occurs in arc seconds only. And In his thesis there is also no formula for the tolerance limit for
Qibla direction, or can also be referred to as ihtiyatul qibla, so it is a change in units Those
arcseconds are not compared to anything.

Responding to the above analysis regarding shifts and movements plate tectonics that
occurred, the facts show that it is true the shift that occurred. However, plate shifts are occurring
in the region The island of Java is moving southeast, in accordance with the movement of the
Eurasian Plate. This does not correspond to a shift in deviation Qibla direction in the old mosque
of Semarang City. Deviation from the direction of the Qibla occurs when measuring the direction
of the Qibla which shows the north-west direction.