Research Subjects＞Special Environment＞Disaster Affected Area
An analysis of residents’ responses to the 2006 Central Java Earthquake
<Proceedings of the 8th Pacific Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Paper No. 192, Dec. 2007>
Ryuzo Ohno, Rachama Marcillia Syam
Through analysis of questionnaires and one-on-one interviews, this study
assesses the physical and sociobehavioral states of people affected by
the earthquake measuring Mw 6.3 that struck the Indonesian island of Java
near Yogyakarta on 27 May 2006 at 5:53 AM local time, leaving tremendous
damage in the lives of the residents. Data collection for the study was
carried out in October and November 2006 as an integrated continuation
of a previous session conducted in June.
The present survey found (1) that although traditional wooden houses performed
seismically better than brick houses, residents continue to prefer using
brick masonry to rebuild their homes because of their persistent good image
of it, (2) that traditional living practices and community values such
as gotong royong play quite important roles in the reconstruction process,
and (3) that access to information regarding disaster prevention and mitigation
had been lacking in the community prior to the earthquake. The overview
of results provided in this report will prove useful in developing relief
programs and precautionary measures for future disasters.
An analysis of residents’ responses to the 2006 Central Java Earthquake 
