The Southeast of Yogyakarta City has had the heaviest damages to buildings in the 2006 of Yogyakarta Earthquake disaster. A moderate to strong earthquake of 6.3 Mw shook the 20 km southeast part of the Yogyakarta City early in the morning at 5:54 local time. On top of extensive damage in Yogyakarta and Central Java, more than 5700 people perished; 37,927 people were injured in the collapse of more than 240,396 residential buildings. Furthermore, the earthquake also affected the infrastructure and local economic activities. The total damages and losses because of the earthquake was 29.1 trillion rupiahs or equal to approximately 3.1 million US dollar. Two main factors that caused the severe damages were a dense population and the lack of seismic design of residential buildings. After reconstruction and rehabilitation, the area where the study was conducted grew into a densely populated area. This urbanistic change is feared to be potentially the lead to a great disaster if an earthquake occurs again. Thus, a comprehensive study about building vulnerability is absolutely needed in study area. Therefore, the main objective of this study has been the provision of a probabilistic model of seismic building vulnerability based on the damage data of the last big earthquake. By considering the relationship between building characteristics, site conditions, and the damage level based on probabilistic analysis, this study can offer a better understanding of earthquake damage estimation for residential building in Java. The main findings of this study were as follows: The most vulnerable building type is the reinforced masonry structure with clay tile roof, it is located between 8.1-10 km of the epicentre and it is built on young Merapi volcanic deposits. On the contrary, the safest building type is the houses which has characteristics of reinforced masonry structure, asbestos or zinc roof type, and being located in Semilir Formation. The results showed that the building damage probability provided a high accuracy of prediction about 75.81%. The results explain the prediction of building vulnerability based on the building damaged of the Yogyakarta earthquake 2006. This study is suitable for preliminary study at the region scale. Thus, the site investigation still needs to be conducted for the future research to determine the safety and vulnerability of residential building.

Communicating location-specific information to pedestrians is a challenging task which can be aided by user-friendly digital technologies. In this paper, landmark visibility analysis, as a means for developing more usable pedestrian navigation systems, is discussed. Using an algorithmic framework for image-based 3D analysis, this method integrates a 3D city model with identified landmarks and produces raster visibility layers for each one. This output enables an Android phone prototype application to indicate the visibility of landmarks from the user's actual position. Tested in the field, the method achieves sufficient accuracy for the context of use and improves navigation efficiency and effectiveness.

This article presents an overview of a research project focusing on improving the usability of pedestrian navigation systems by following a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach. One of the main problems with those systems is how to adequately support and enhance the spatial interactions of a traveler to new urban areas, which is crucial for successful self-orienting and wayfinding. The methodology employed allows for conceptualizing, implementing and evaluating research prototypes that aim to satisfy the special user requirements. Outlined in this article are the techniques designed and integrated in the developed prototype, the methods used for their evaluation through field-based studies and the challenges encountered during this process. New techniques with a measurable impact on the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of navigation were tested and found to dramatically enhance the sense of personal geo-identification in new places. Examples of those techniques are landmark visibility indication, multi-path routing based on time availability, multi-perspective landmark photos and reverse overview + detail maps. Overall, the outcomes of this research verify the capacity of UCD to help overcoming current usability issues with pedestrian navigation systems. By demonstrating an effective UCD methodology and discussing the lessons learned, we intend to aid the development of next generation navigation appliances.

Located approximately a hundred kilometres north of Java Subduction Zone, Java Island has a complicated geology and geomorphology. The north zone is dominated by the folded area, the centre is dominated by the active volcanic arc and the south of Java including the study area (Southeast part of Yogyakarta City), is dominated by the uplifted southern mountain. In general, the study area is part of the Bantul’s Graben. In the middle part of study area flows the Opak River, which is often associated with normal faults of Opak Fault. The Opak Fault is such a complex fault system which has a complex local fault which can cause worst local site effect when earthquakes occur. However, the geology map of Yogyakarta is the only data that gives the characteristics of Opak Fault roughly. Thus, the effort to identify unchartered fault system needs to be done. The aims of this study are to conduct the outcrop study, to identify the micro faults and to improve the understanding of faults system to support the earthquake hazard and risk assessment. The integrated method of remote sensing, structure from motion (SfM), geographic information system (GIS) and direct outcrop observation was conducted in the study area. Remote sensing was applied to recognize the outcrop location and to extract the nature lineament feature which can be used as fault indicator. The structure from motion was used to support characterising the outcrop in the field, to identify the fault evidence, and to measure the fault displacement on the outcrops. The direct outcrop observation is very useful to reveal the lithofacies characteristics and to reconstruct the lithostratigraphic correlation among the outcrops. Meanwhile, GIS was used to analyse all the data from remote sensing, SfM, and direct outcrop observation. The main findings of this study were as follows: the middle part of study area has the most complicated geologic structure. At least 56 faults evidence with the maximum displacement of 2.39 m was found on the study area. Administratively, the north part of Segoroyoso Village, the middle part of Wonolelo Village, and the middle part of Bawuran village are very unstable and vulnerable to the ground motion amplification due to their faults configuration. The further studies such as geo-electric survey, boreholes survey, and detail geological mapping still need to be conducted in the study area to get better understanding of Opak Fault. Additionally, the carbon testing of charcoal that found in the outcrop and identification of exact location of the ancient eruption source also need to be done.

Yogyakarta is one of the large cities in Central Java, located on Java Island, Indonesia. The city, and the Pleret sub-district, where the study has taken place, is prone to earthquake hazards, because it is close to several seismically active zones, such as the Sunda Megathrust and the active fault known as the Opak Fault. Since a devastating earthquake of 2006, the population of the Pleret sub-district has increased significantly. Thus, the housing demand has increased, and so is the pace of low-cost housing that does not meet earthquake-safety requirements, and furthermore are often located on unstable slopes. The local alluvial material covering a jigsaw of unstable blocks and complex slope is conditions that can amplify the negative impacts of earthquakes. Within this context, this study is aiming to assess the multi-hazards and risks of earthquakes and related secondary hazards such as ground liquefaction, and coseismic landslides. To achieve this, we used geographic information systems and remote sensing methods supplemented with outcrop study and existing seismic data to derive shear-strain parameters. The results have revealed the presence of numerous uncharted active faults with movements visible from imagery and outcrops. show that the middle part of the study area has a complex geological structure, indicated by many unchartered faults in the outcrops. Using this newly mapped blocks combined with shear strain data, we reassessed the collapse probability of buildings that reach level >0.75 near the Opak River, in central Pleret sub-district. Classifying the buildings and from population distribution, we could determine that the highest risk was during nighttime as the buildings susceptible to fall are predominantly housing buildings. The secondary hazards follow a slightly different distribution with a concentration of risks in the West.