Teuku Faisal Fathani

Promoting the hybrid socio-technical approach for effective disaster risk reduction in developing countries

This paper highlights the importance of integrating social and technical approaches (which is the so-called “hybrid socio-technical approach”) as one innovative and strategic program with respect to disaster risk reduction. Such a program is mainly based on multi-disciplinary action research to support the community empowerment program through public education. The technical approach was mainly conducted for geological and geotechnical investigation to analyze and predict susceptibility levels of the disaster prone area, as well as to develop an appropriate technology for hazard mapping and disaster early warning. Meanwhile, the social approach was necessary for analyzing and mapping the psycho-social conditions of the disaster prone area, and accordingly an appropriate strategy and program to implement the early warning technology can be formulated. Moreover, it is also important to establish a “community task force” as the driving power for landslide disaster risk reduction which can sustain the program at the village level.

An Adaptive and Sustained Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning System

Areas prone to mass movement are widespread in Indonesia. The potential for landslide disasters in several regions is controlled by the geotechnical and geological conditions and triggered by high intensity rainfall and/or earthquake activity. The vulnerability to landslides is made worse by intensive land-use development. The urgent issues to be addressed are the dense populations residing in areas prone to mass movement and the failure to relocate the local people to safer areas for socio-economic reasons. Therefore, landslide monitoring, prediction, and early warning systems are urgently required to guarantee the safety of communities living in such areas. A long running and sustainable community-based landslide monitoring and early warning system (EWS) has been developed in Indonesia, with establishment of collaboration among the local government, universities, private sectors, NGOs, and the disaster management community. The main purpose of the program is to establish a strategic approach for disaster risk reduction through the implementation of information flow (for warning levels) and order/command systems (for evacuation). These activities have already met the community needs, helped save lives, and continued to obtain solid community support. In order to extend the effort, further challenges are to expand the project coverage, and propose more effective landslide monitoring, early warning, analysis, and visualization. In addition, the capabilities in socio-economic risk assessment need to be expedited to help identify those most at risk within the community. This paper describes the achievements and the current activities of the IPL Project (IPL-158) “Development of Community-based Landslide Early Warning System”.

Hybrid Socio-Technical Approach for Landslide Risk Reduction in Indonesia

This paper highlights the importance of integrating social and technical approaches (which is so called a “hybrid socio-technical approach”) as one innovative and strategic program with respect to landslide disaster risk reduction. Such program mainly based on multi-disciplinary action-research to support the community empowerment program through public education. The technical approach was mainly conducted for geological and geotechnical investigation to analyse and predict susceptibility levels of the disaster prone area, as well as to develop an appropriate technology for hazard mapping and disaster early warning. Meanwhile, the social approach was necessary to be undertaken for analysing and mapping the psychosocial conditions of the disaster prone area, and accordingly an appropriate strategy and program to implement the produced technology can be formulated. Moreover, it is also important to establish a “community task force” as the driving power for landslide disaster risk reduction, which can sustain the program at the village level.

Introduction: Monitoring, Prediction and Warning of Landslides

The WLF3 B5.Session Monitoring, prediction and warning of landslides, as a part of WLF3 session Group B. Sessions for Methods of Landslide Studies, gathers the main elements in the landslides risk reduction and landslides sustainable disaster management: monitoring, prediction and warning of landslides. Sixteen contributions from eleven countries around the world have been submitted and, after review process, accepted for publishing. The best practice techniques and experiences on monitoring, prediction and warning of landslides caused by different triggering factors are presented in this Session. In this introduction to the WLF3 B5 Session Monitoring, prediction and warning of landslides, a short summary of each of the accepted papers is presented divided regarding to their general topics.

Investigation to the Local Site Effects During Earthquake Induced Ground Deformation Using Microtremor Observation in Yogyakarta, Central Java-Indonesia

Local site effects have an enormous influence on the character of ground motion and play an important role in seismic damage to human being made structures. Several powerful earthquakes have struck Yogyakarta, Indonesia during recent years, one of the destructive which was an Mw 6.3 event that occurred on May 27th, 2006 and caused more than 5,700 fatalities and over 37,000 injuries. Following this event, the single observations of microtremors were densely performed at 274 sites in Yogyakarta City. To provide a good coverage of the study area, the single microtremor observations are designed with a grid spacing of 500 m to the main path of the north–south and east–west of the research area to known in detail the configuration soft rocks and contact hard rock. The predominant periods due to horizontal vertical ratio (HVSRs) are in the range of 0.15–4.00 s. The amplification factor (Ag) and the soil natural frequency (Fg) are generally ranging between 0.70–5.56 and 0.4–3.3 Hz according to results derived from HVSR analysis. It is obviously observed that the thickness of local sediments has great influence on amplification characteristics. In general, the local geology effect is more dominant than the topography effect. The level of soil damage due to the local site effects at the ground deformation location was indicated by the vulnerability index (Kg) and the effective shear strain (γ). Actually, vulnerability index (Kg) varied from 0.6 to 51.3 and the effective shear strain (γ) had values ranging from 300 × 10−6 to 25,000 × 10−6 which for γ > 10,000 × 10−6 catastrophic landslide or very large deformation will be occurred. This study illustrates how the vulnerability index and the effective shear strain could be used to make preliminary assessment of the research area deformed during the earthquake.

The Application of Monitoring and Early Warning System of Rainfall-Triggered Debris Flow at Merapi Volcano, Central Java, Indonesia

The 2010 Mt. Merapi eruption has produced approximately 140 million m3 of pyroclastic deposit, in which more than 10 million m3 deposits are potential to move downstream through Boyong/Code River towards Yogyakarta City. The flow behavior of Code River may be affected by the presence of accumulated sediment at the upstream of the river (namely Boyong River). By rainfall trigger, this potential source can cause debris flow disaster that may contribute damage to the settlement areas in Yogyakarta City. This paper presents the application of monitoring and early warning system to mitigate the impact of debris flow disaster along Boyong/Code River as revealed by most adaptive, low cost, and collaborative-based technology. The real-time monitoring equipment consists of automatic rainfall recorder, automatic water level recorder, debris sensor, and interval camera. The system was developed by considering the community aspiration in determining the types and placement of monitoring equipment, and maintaining its sustainability. The information flow of the proposed early warning system has been introduced accordingly. The central station receives the results of the real-time monitoring and the information through radio communication from the focal points located along Boyong/Code River. Afterward, the warning alert is sent to focal points and the debris flow monitoring radio. This newly built system is expected to be integrated with the monitoring system of other volcanic rivers at Merapi Volcano.

TXT-tool 2.062-1.2 A Monitoring and Early Warning System for Debris Flows in Rivers on Volcanoes

Volcanic eruptions may produce large amounts of pyroclastic material. Such material will then be transported down a volcano’s rivers due to slope instability or rainfall, and then settle in alluvial fan areas. Further migration of this deposited sediment along the river may occur through both natural mechanisms (hydraulic phenomena) as well as anthropogenic processes (human interference). This paper presents the application of monitoring and early warning systems to mitigate the impact of debris flows, using adaptive, low-cost, and collaborative-based technology. A long-running and sustainable system for monitoring and early warning of debris flows in the rivers of Mt. Merapi volcano in Indonesia will be used as case study for the implementation of this model. The 2010 Mt. Merapi eruption produced approximately 140 million m3 of pyroclastic deposits, of which more than 10 million m3 deposits have a potential to move downstream through Boyong/Code River towards Yogyakarta City and cause damage to the settlement areas. A real-time monitoring and warning system has been developed by considering community wishes in determining the types and placement of monitoring equipment, and maintaining it sustainably. The equipment consists of an automatic rainfall recorder, automatic water level recorder, debris sensor, and interval camera. The information flow for the proposed early warning system has been set up. The central station receives both the results of the real-time monitoring, and information through radio communication from key persons. Afterward, a warning alert is sent to key persons and the debris flow monitoring radio. This newly built system is expected to be integrated with the monitoring system of rivers, not only at Mt. Merapi but also on other volcanoes in Indonesia.

TXT-tool 4.062-1.1: A Socio-technical Approach for Landslide Mitigation and Risk Reduction

This paper highlights the importance of integrating social and technical approaches (a so called a “hybrid socio-technical approach”) as an innovative approach to landslide disaster risk reduction. Such a program is mainly based on multi-disciplinary action and research to support a community empowerment program through public education. The technical approach was developed for mainly geological and geotechnical investigations to analyse and predict susceptibility levels in landslide-prone areas, as well as to develop appropriate technology for hazard mapping and disaster early warning systems. Meanwhile, a social approach was undertaken for analysing and mapping psychological and social conditions in disaster-prone areas. An appropriate strategy and program to implement the produced technology can be thus be formulated. Moreover, it is also important to establish a “community task force” as the driving power for landslide disaster risk reduction, which can sustain the program at the village level. This paper describes the achievements and the current activities of IPL-165 “Development of community-based landslide hazard mapping for landslide risk reduction at the village scale in Java, Indonesia”.

TXT-tool 4.062-1.1: Community Hazard Maps for Landslide Risk Reduction

This paper highlights the importance of a non-technical approach to providing hazard maps for community-based landslide risk reduction at the village level. Such maps should be simple and user friendly, so they can be easily prepared and used effectively for mitigation actions by the village communities. Various key parameters required for such mapping are discussed, in line with standard procedures for hazard mapping. A pilot study was carried out in Tengklik Village in Karanganyar Region, Central Java, Indonesia, to test this proposed procedure for hazard mapping. It was concluded that converting the technical information in the maps into more simple terms that will address the practical needs and socio-cultural conditions in any particular village is crucial for assuring the effective employment of such maps in landslide mitigation actions. This chapter describes the achievements and the current activities of IPL-165 “Development of community-based landslide hazard mapping for landslide risk reduction at the village scale in Java, Indonesia” and IPL-158 “Development of Education Program for Sustainable Development in Landslide Vulnerable Area through Student Community Service”.

TXT-tool 2.062-1.1: A Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning System

Landslides are one of most common major disasters in Indonesia due to the physical susceptibility of the region and socio-economical conditions within the country. Efforts are urgently needed to avoid or reduce the risk of landslides. Unfortunately, most landslide-susceptible areas have very fertile soils and abundant very good quality water. The susceptible areas are thus usually densely populated, with serious consequences with respect to slope instability. Despite efforts to establish slope protection zones that are restricted for any development and settlement, relocation programs cannot easy to be carried out due to socio-economic constraints. Therefore, landslide monitoring, prediction and early warning systems are urgently required to guarantee the safety of communities in such areas. A long running and sustainable community-based landslide monitoring and early warning system has been developed in Indonesia that includes collaboration among the local government, universities, private sectors, NGOs, and the disaster management community. The program has three stages: the development of a simple and low-cost landslide early warning system, the design and implementation of the warning system in real time, and the establishment of a socio-technical strategic approach to disaster risk reduction. These activities have already met community needs and helped save lives, and they continue to obtain solid community support. Now the further challenges are to expand the project coverage, and propose more effective landslide monitoring, early warning, analysis, and visualization. In addition, the capabilities in socio-economic risk assessment need to be expedited to help identify those most at-risk within the community. This chapter describes the achievements and the current activities of the IPL-158 Project “Development of Community-based Landslide Early Warning System”.