National Survey: 17% of Indonesians live in landslide prone areas

According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 17% of Indonesia's population, this being translated to nearly 41 million people, live in areas susceptible to landslides. With landslide mitigation efforts still being minimal, people in the specific areas have faces medium to high risk of landslides during the latest rainy season. 

Based on the Agency's data, Sutopo Purwo Nogroho, head of the data and information center of the BNPB, stated that death toll reached 408 people, nearly 80,000 residents were displaced and 5,814 homes sustained damage as a result of the landslides occurring last year, making them the most devastating type of disaster for year 2014. Of the 40.9 million citizens living in landslide prone areas, many of them would not be able to escape, as 4.3 million are toddlers, 323,000 people face disabilities and elderly people reach 3.2 million. 

The map of landslide-susceptible areas distributed to local authorities presents West, Central and East Java as the top three vulnerable areas across the country, however there is still a long way until a suitable spatial planning is reached by the local authorities.