By Dr. Takumi Hayashida & Dr. Bunichiro Shibazaki of IISEE

We attended the 10th Joint Meeting of UJNR (The United States/Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources) Panel on Earthquake Research, which was held in Sendai on 14th-16th October. The meeting is held every two years in Japan and the U.S., alternately. Lively discussions were conducted on current topics in seismology, seismic and tsunami hazard assessment, and ongoing research projects for the first two days of scientific sessions (48 presentations in seven sessions).

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 1.

(1) Ms. Baigalimaa GANBAT (Mongolia, Seismology Course)
We visited the Tohoku region, and the purpose of the study trip was to know and acquire the lessons learned from the 2011 Great Tohoku, and 2004 Chuetsu Earthquakes. I heard before from lectures, news and video about 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake. Nevertheless, through study trip to Onagawa and Natori regions, I realized more how much damage caused from tsunami, earthquake and terrible force of the tsunami, when looked by real eyes. In the Miyagi Reconstruction Agency, they presented us with how the reconstruction and recovery process ongoing.

Please see the Newsletter attached on pages 1&2.

(2) Mr. Johnlery Pino DEXIMO (Philippines, Seismology Course)
On November 3-7, 2014, two study sites with different situations, in Miyagi and Niigata prefectures, were visited by Seismology and Earthquake Engineering courses. We visited the areas around Onagawa Town, Natori City, Tohoku University (Miyagi) including Nagaoka City and Yamakoshi District (Niigata).

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 2.

(3) Mr. Nelson Alejandro QUINTANILLA PINTO (El Salvador, Earthquake Engineering Course)
The Study Trip to Niigata and Miyagi Prefectures was very interesting. We learned how the current status of the reconstruction is and how they manage to act fast after the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 in Miyagi Prefecture; we learned about the importance of having a regional plan to manage the emergency response, recovery and restoration.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 2.

(4) Mr. Harish Chandra LAMICHHANE (Nepal, Earthquake Engineering Course)
First of all, I would like to thank IISEE/BRI management for arranging visit in appropriate area.
We visited Miyagi and Niigata Prefecture. There were all students of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology group. In Miyagi we visited the area devastated by the Great East Japan earthquake 2011 in Onagawa town and Natori city. We also visited Miyagi Reconstruction Agency and Tohoku Regional Development Bureau.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 3.

(5) Mr. Urip Setiyono (Indonesia, Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Course)
No one hopes that disaster comes to them, including people in Japan. Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011 was a nightmare especially for people who live in the Eastern coast of Japan. Mega tsunami destroyed what Japan had built to protect the people from tsunami, such as green belt Pine Tree Forest at Takata-matsubara, seawalls at Taro area, Kamaishi Port and other regions. But, Japan never gives up on facing those kinds of problems.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 3.

It was with profound sorrow that we received the sad news of the passing away of Dr. Hideaki Kishida, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Institute of Technology on November 16, 2014.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 3.