Project News

Picture of Workshop

On September 30th, by the Earthquakes occurred off the coast of Padang, the West Sumatra province, numerous landslides and collapses occurred in mountain-ringed region. Because the roads in the region were blocked in every place by landslides, it took time to grasp the damaged conditions. Regarding the landslide occurrence and condition of this earthquake, a report was made with satellite photographs taken mainly in Padang Pariaman District and Agam District where the damages were severe (the area of the photograph taken was about 1,500 km2).

The analysis results were reported on November 5th at “Workshop concerning Earthquake Disaster off the coast of Padang” held in Bukittinggi City, near the disaster area. In the workshop, about 50 members joined including Mr. Widagdo, Director for River, Lake and Reservoir, Ministry of Public Works; Director of Ministry of Public Works in West Sumatra province; Head of Padang Pariaman District; Vice Head of Agam District; and officers from National Disaster Management Agency and Meteorological Agency.

Mr. Toshiyasu Ueno, Expert, reported that a total of 253 landslides occurred and within this number, severe collapses/landslides over 1 million ㎥ of collapsed sediment were recognized at 10 sites with the satellite photographs. Also he explained that it was effective for prevention of secondary disaster of landslides to work on establishing early warning and emergency measures such as evacuation drills. Some participants of the workshop required to continue the analysis and investigations. Regarding the results of the analysis and investigations, they confirmed again in the workshop that related agencies would cooperate together for disaster prevention such as sharing information and deliver accurate and specific information to the residents.