Abstract:
Indonesia's location in the Pacific ring of fire, endowed by geological and seismicity risks to earthquake. Recent earthquakes in Southern Coasts of West Java followed by West Sumatra, confirmed its vulnerability. Research on natural hazards demonstrated that human factors are as important as geophysical process to reduce material and human loss. People in developing countries tend to suffer more after the events compared to those in developed countries. The existence of government's mitigations policies and programs in developed countries saved human loss after the event. This paper analyse the importance of government's respons to natural hazard in terms of designing appropriate public policies to reduce social impacts. The paper suggested that the
government should anticipate natural hazard with several mitigation policies. Understanding the issue would guide the design of mitigation policy, such as establishing early warning system. Further understanding on geological and sesimisity in Indonesia, would motivate the central and local governments to design sustainable public policies.
