USK Hosts Public Lecture on Disaster Studies with Kyoto University Professor
Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK), through its Master’s Program in Disaster Science, hosted a public lecture titled “Recent Earthquake and the Next Destructive Earthquake in Japan” on 8 September 2025. The keynote speaker was Prof. Junji Kiyono, Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University, Japan. The event took place at the USK PAscasarjana Building.
In his opening remarks, USK Postgraduate Director Prof. Hizir expressed his appreciation for the visit.
“We are pleased to welcome the Japanese delegation and to hold today’s public lecture with a distinguished professor from Kyoto University. We hope this discussion will not only provide new insights for research development but also open doors to broader collaborations in the future,” he said.
During his presentation, Prof. Kiyono reflected on the shared impacts of major disasters such as the 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan, and the 2009 Padang earthquake in Indonesia. He also highlighted scientific predictions of a possible future large-scale earthquake in Japan.
The lecture was also joined by Prof. Rusnardi Rahmat Putra, Ph.D., a lecturer and researcher from Universitas Negeri Padang, who specializes in seismic studies in civil engineering. Prof. Rusnardi shared additional insights into the potential risks and consequences of future earthquakes.
Prof. Kiyono emphasized that the scale of damage from earthquakes and tsunamis is not solely determined by seismic intensity or wave strength, but also by community vulnerability at the time of the disaster. Comprehensive mitigation efforts, he stressed, must include continuous monitoring, data collection, field observation, numerical simulations, as well as the development of both technical (hard measures) and non-technical (soft measures) strategies.
“When earthquakes and tsunamis strike, unforeseen events beyond our experience will inevitably arise. While technical measures form the foundation of disaster prevention, combining them with non-technical approaches is crucial for effective disaster mitigation,” he explained.
Prof. Kiyono attended the lecture with a Japanese delegation under the Kyoto and Kansai University Disaster Prevention School (KiDS) program, which provides earthquake and tsunami awareness to elementary schools.
The public lecture served as an important platform for USK’s academic community to deepen their understanding of disaster science while strengthening international research collaboration with Japanese universities.
