Learning from when the earth moves: earthquake risk in Indonesia

For the past five years, Rawlinson's team in the Department of Earth Sciences has been working with Indonesian researchers at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), led by Professor Sri Widiyantoro, to build an earthquake hazard map for Borneo.

When the location of the new capital was announced, the partnership deployed an additional array of seismic stations even closer to the proposed site of the city, funded by the British Council through a Newton Impact award.

The location of the new capital is across the Makassar Strait from the tectonically active island of Sulawesi, which has implications for seismic hazard in eastern Borneo. The aim of the researchers was to identify any previously undiscovered active faults, image in detail the shallow structure beneath the proposed site, and use the results to drive a better understanding of earthquake hazard in and around the new capital.

"If a new city is to be built, our work could inform building codes and disaster management planning, which would help save lives and reduce economic loss," explained Rawlinson.

After a year of measuring seismic activity, the researchers are now analysing data from the seismometers in the location of the proposed capital: "Fortunately, early analysis has not revealed anything unexpected," says Rawlinson, "no evidence yet of active faults or unusual seismicity in the area."

Meanwhile, the combined results of previous and recent work have provided unprecedented seismic data coverage of the region, which can inform ongoing construction of the city.

Crucially, to maximise the impact from the project, Widiyantoro is working with the National Earthquake Study Centre (PuSGeN) of the Ministry for Public Works and Housing (PUPR), who are responsible for developing seismic hazard maps of Indonesia. This institution also assists the Indonesian President in formulating policy and coordination around planning and infrastructure development for roads, buildings and other infrastructure.

"Our data is being used to improve regional probabilistic seismic hazard maps," explains says Widiyantoro. "PUPR has been very supportive of this work and our collaboration with Cambridge."

"The data is available in an open access regional database of information, which will be critical to setting appropriate building codes and informing disaster management planning."

Professor Sri Widiyantoro, Institut Teknologi Bandung

Adds Rawlinson: "Ultimately, our goal is to help decision-makers understand earthquake risk to ensure the long term viability of the new capital. The long-term aim of the partnership is to continue to improve earthquake science across Indonesia, ready for the next time the earth moves."

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