The accessibility of tsunami prone areas society towards potential shelters: a case study in Padang Barat sub-district

Abstract

Padang city, which is located on the western coast of Sumatra, has the potential to experience a powerful earthquake and thus generate tsunami. After the earthquake, with or without a tsunami warning, the society is required to evacuate. Because of the short time, vertical evacuation is the best alternative for the safety of society. Evacuation on foot to the temporary rescue building (Temporary Evacuation Shelter, TES) is more advisable than evacuation using motorized vehicles that tends to cause congestion. Temporary evacuation maps and potential shelters in Padang have been established by BPBD (Disaster Management Agency). In the Padang Barat sub-district, there are 13 potential shelters. This study aims to determine the level of accessibility to potential shelters based on travel time and road width parameters. In determining accessibility, the study area is divided into 50x50m size grids. The travel time is determined based on the distance from the center of the grid to the nearest TES through the road network. The limitation of evacuation time is 10 minutes. The results of data analyzing showed that among the 4358 grids which were occupied by society, there were 2272 grids (52.1%) which have low accessibility (based on travel time) and 30% has a low level of accessibility based on travel time and width road parameter.