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Originating authors: Dr. Anne Arendt, Utah Valley University; Rubi Hernandez-Turner, Utah Valley University; Khaliun Amargarjal, Utah Valley University

This work is being completed as part of an already-established collaboration with Brigham Young University (Profs. Ron Harris and Chad Emmett, and students), the non-profit In Harm’s Way, the Red Cross, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional (Indonesia, Carolus Prasetyadi and students), the Indonesian Federal Science Organization (LIPI), and the Indonesian Federal disaster management agency (BPBD) where related projects have been implemented to assess and reduce Indonesian tsunami risk. Learn more about the Collaboration Team

Indonesia has the fourth largest population on earth with over 260 million individuals and houses one of the most densely populated places worldwide on the island of Java. Across Indonesia the terrain is largely coastal lowlands although the larger islands have interior mountains. While Indonesia contains the most volcanoes of any country in the world, their natural hazards also include tsunamis and earthquakes 1. That said, much of Indonesia rests above active subduction zones. Actually, it is one of the most seismically active areas on the planet. It is surrounded by many tectonic plates including the Indo-Australia plate, the Pacific plate, the Philippine Sea plate, and the Sunda plate. It also has several faults such as Sumatra, Lembang, Sorong, and Timor. The Sumatran faulty, for example, is a large strike-slip that runs the entire length of the island of Sumatra. It ends just below the city of Banda Aceh, where a devastating earthquake and tsunami occurred in 2004. In that earthquake, Banda Aceh lost 30% of its inhabitants (>130,000), had another 7000,000 homeless, and had property losses of more than 4.4 billion dollars 2,3. However, even with above circumstances, there is little in place regarding seismic building construction safety practices and documentation. In part this may have to do with economics. The gross national income per capita in U.S. dollars is only $3,400 4. Regardless of income or the dollar value of structures either being built or already in place, there are steps that can be taken to improve safety. Safety of individuals should be a priority for all construction, followed secondarily but less importantly with overall building resilience.

Indonesia has had several significant tsunamis over the recent years. The 2004 magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami in Sumatra as previously mentioned, but even smaller earthquakes have a sizeable impact. The magnitude 6.3 earthquake near Jogjakara in 2006 had a death toll of over 6,200 with thousands more injured and more than 60,000 houses destroyed 5. Another is the 2006 magnitude 7.7 earthquake and associated tsunami in Pangandaran, West Java. While there was only weak shaking and no ground motion damage from the earthquake, there was extensive damage and losses of over 600 lives from the tsunami. An inspection after the earthquake showed extensive damage to wooden and unreinforced masonry buildings that were located within several hundred meters of the coast 6. Many areas of Indonesia may also be in harm’s way. The goal of the project is to define, develop, and distribute best practices for planning and construction on Indonesian coastlines to reduce tsunami risk.

The guidebook exists as a living document can continue to be refined by others well in to the future. It is designated as Creative Commons attribution non-commercial. While attribution must remain for the originating authors, others may edit, copy, distribute, display, and make derivative works and remixes based on it but only for non-commercial purposes. We strongly encourage individuals to make modifications and additions to the pages within this Wiki and thus it has open access to all for editing. Below is an outline of what is found within this guidebook which is also found on the left via all pages within this site.

Tsunami and Earthquake Risk

Tsunamis
Earthquakes
Building Site Location

Building Site Location Overview
Earthwork
Site Grading
Sloping and Erosion
Mudslides and Flooding
Residential Building Construction

Building Response Overview
Footings and Foundation
Stairways
Means of Egress
Wall and Support Structure Framing
Roofing
Materials Used

Concrete and Masonry
Natural Fibrous Materials
Metals
Post Event

Post Event Considerations
Other

Glossary
Collaboration Team

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