2017 Volume 69 Issue 6 Pages 351-355
Mega-Earthquake has been predicted by many experts, which will threat Padang City, Indonesia in future.In order to reduce the disaster risk due to the seismic activity, it is needed to develop an integrated risk assessment tool that can cover many elements which are involved on the system of disaster risk reduction. This research aims to observe and recognize the environmental system in Padang City, West Sumatra, Indonesia, as a preparation towards the development of assessment tool to reduce impacts due to earthquake disaster. By interviewing the experts from building offices in Padang City about building quality and construction system, Google earth street view, street survey and building document analysis, building typology and building quality in Padang City have been examined. Building law, building code and building local regulation have been reviewed. This research found that the building typology is dominated by RC building low-mid storey with greater than 50% of building population. Review of building law, code and regulation compared to observed construction method, show that the seismic vulnerability is high. The land acquisition problem which covers 43% of land area which is related to unique tribe system also seems to contribute to the low quality of building construction in Padang City.
