International Journal of Remote Sensing and Earth Sciences Vol.10 No.2 December 2013:90-103 90 @National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN) VULNERABILITY LEVEL MAP OF TSUNAMI DISASTER IN PANGANDARAN BEACH, WEST JAVA Iqoh Faiqoh 1, Jonson Lumban Gaol 12* and Marisa Mei Ling 2 1 Department of Marine Science and Technology, Bogor Agicultural University, Indonesia 2 Center for Geomatic Engineering, Surya University, Serpong, Indonesia. * e-mail: jonson_lumbangaol@yahoo.com Abstract. Indonesia is located in a seismic active region where tsunami often occur. One of tsunami prone areas in Indonesia is southern coast of Java, such as the coastal areas of Pangandaran, West Java. One of the instruments in the tsunami disaster mitigation is the vulnerability map of coastal region on tsunami. Analyses of tsunami vulnerability assessment was performed by using merger or overlay methods in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The parameters used to analyze tsunami vulnerability level were elevation, topography, landuse, coastal border, and river banks. The vulnerability were divided into five classes i.e., very high, high, medium, low, and very low. Results showed that Pananjung, Babakan, Pangandaran (Pangandaran District); and Sukaresik and Cikembulan (Sidamulih District) sub-districts were identified as areas of very high level of tsunami vulnerability with total area of 737.703 hectares. Areas with low level of vulnerability were Pagergunung, Putrapinggan, and Kersaratu sub-districts with total area of 4,816.204 hectares. Keywords: Coastal vulnerability, Tsunami, GIS, Pangandaran 1 INTRODUCTION Indonesia is located in a seismic active region where tsunami often occur. One of tsunami prone areas in Indonesia is southern coast of Java, such as the coastal areas of Pangandaran, West Java. Sudrajat (1997) included the southern coast of Java into group of vulnerable tsunami disaster based on the cause of tectonic earthquake. Geologically, this area is located in the subduction line or at the confluence of two large plates that can collide each other (Eurasian and Indo-Australian plates). The plates movement in this area, often cause big earthquake that can produce a tsunami. In a period of less than 18 years, in Southern Java has occurred 2 times big tsunamis (tsunami Banyuwangi (East Java) in 1994 and Pangandaran (West Java) in 2006). Indonesian Disaster Prone Index data published by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in 2011, showed that Ciamis regency (including Pangandaran) is in the third rank of prone area of potential threat of earthquake and tsunami, after Banda Aceh city and Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Pangandaran coastal areas have experienced an earthquake and tsunami 7 years ago. On 17 July 2006 precisely at 15:19 a.m., an earthquake occurred in the southern coast of Pangandaran at coordinates 9.33°S and 107.26°E at at distance of 10 from Pangandarn with magnitude of 7.7 Richter scale. The epicenter was located in the Indian Ocean at the southern part of Ciamis regency or located about 245 km from Tasikmalaya (Kongko, 2011). The earthquake was followed by tsunami of about 1-2 m depth flow and runoff distance of inland tsunami approximately 50-200 m from the beach (Bappeda Ciamis, 2012). The tsunami disaster caused damages in six districts of Ciamis regency i.e., Pangandaran, Sidamulih, Parigi, Cijulang, Cimerak, and Kalipucang districts. The worst damages were in Pangandaran and Sidamulih districts. From the data of Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Ciamis, fatalities were recorded as much as 274 persons injured, 27 persons missing, and 13,198 refugees. The data clearly show that the tsunami was a destructive disaster. Therefore, it is necessary to have a tsunami disaster mitigation efforts, which is a process