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.