Over the past few years I’ve taken part in several Earthquake Engineers Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) missions. Most recently, I was Deputy Team Leader on a mission that went to Palu Bay, Indonesia, in 2018. I was asked to lead this one to the Indonesian island of Sumatra to investigate the long-term recovery following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and to compare the recovery there to that in Palu. It links directly to my research into the effects of tsunami wave loading on structures along the coast, and the associated flooding and debris flows.
What did you know about the region before travelling there?
Like many people, I had seen the horrific images from the tsunami on our TVs over Christmas and New Year in 2004. To visit the particular location where there had been so much devastation was sobering. Indonesia is a vast country, and the fourth most populated in the world. Because of that, and despite having been to Sulawesi fairly recently, there were some differences in culture, food and religious influence. It’s all too easy to focus on professional engineering interests, but these types of missions reveal the human side of catastrophes too.