Seminar on Post-Disaster Recovery and Rehabilitation in Palu

On Friday, 25^th January 2019, RDI attended Parahyangan Catholic University's seminar about the rehabilitation and mitigation after the 28th September 2018 Palu Earthquake. The seminar invited government officials and earthquake experts who addressed the earthquake's impact and new findings in the field of geotechnical engineering.

Picture 1. Prof. Paulus P Rahardjo, Ph.D

The seminar was divided into 3 sessions which consisted of 6 lectures and a panel discussion at the end. The first session focused mainly on the impact and mitigation of the earthquake. The first speaker was Dr. Ir Bartolomeus Tandigala who is the head of Central Sulawesi disaster management agency. Dr. Bartolomeus presented the social and economic impacts of the earthquake. The second speaker was Dr Arie Murwanto who is the head of the Ministry of Public Works Central Sulawesi Disaster Management team. Dr Arie presented the current mitigation measures taken. The third speaker was Prof. Ir. Arief Sabarudin who is the head of Research and Development of housing from the ministry of public works. Professor Arief discussed about the impacted buildings in Palu and how most of the damage non-engineered houses.

Picture 2. Dr. Sukiman Nurdin

The second session focused on the geotechnical aspects of the earthquake. The first speaker was Prof. Masyur Irsyam, Ph.D who is the head of the Geotechnical Engineers Association of Indonesia. The second speaker was Prof. Paulus P Rahardjo, Ph.D who is a lecturer from Parahyangan Catholic University civil engineering department. The aspects discussed was about the geotechnical findings resulting from the earthquake and the mechanics of liquefaction in Palu. The third speaker was Dr Sukirman Nurdin who is a lecturer from the University of Tadulako department of geology. Dr Sukirman presented mitigation with a local wisdom approach.
The final session was a panel discussion about the geotechnical and structural aspects in Palu from a civil engineering perspective. The seminar concluded with an outlook to rebuild Palu better and advance the research of geotechnical engineering in Indonesia.

News report by: Irvin Tobing