BNPB data and information center head Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Monday that disaster mitigation efforts for landslides were still minimal but, during the rainy season, people living in susceptible areas faced a medium-to-high risk of landslides.

"In fact, in 2014, landslide was the most deadly [type of] disaster, causing 408 deaths, displacing 79,341 residents and damaging 5,814 houses," Sutopo said.

Some of the 40.9 million residents would not be able to escape or protect themselves from landslides as 4.28 million of them were toddlers, 323,000 were people with disabilities and 3.2 million were elderly, according to Sutopo.

West Java, Central Java and East Java are the three areas most prone to landslide disasters.

West Java'€™s Bogor, Bandung, Garut, Sukabumi, Cilacap and Cianjur; Central Java'€™s Wonogiri, Wonosobo, Temanggung, Banyumas, Semarang, Kebumen and Purbalingga; and East Java'€™s Ponorogo are some of the districts mapped out by the agency as being prone to landslides.

A map of landslide-prone areas has been distributed to relevant local administrations.

"However, the map had yet to be fully utilized when the administrations drafted the regional spatial plans," Sutopo said, adding that it was too costly to install early-warning systems for landslides in every region.

"The key is proper spatial planning," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Twelve people were killed and 11 houses buried after a landslide was triggered by heavy rain in Sukabumi on Saturday.

A day earlier, a landslide triggered by rain also hit Jaraksari village in Wonosobo, killing one woman. (+++++)

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