********************************************************************************************IISEE Newsletter No.82

July 20, 2012********************************************************************************************++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Contents+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. International Memorial Symposium was held
2. Impressions on International Symposium, Comments from IISEE Participants
3. Ex-staff members Party of IISEE was held
4. English Report on Tornado in Tsukuba++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++============================================================================[1] International Memorial Symposium was held
IISEE, UNESCO and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) held an international
memorial symposium titled "Protecting Lives from Earthquake and Tsunami Disasters" at the hall ofGRIPS on June 27, Wed.150 participants including around 40 persons from abroad joined andlistened to speeches from the world top experts to seek the way to protect lives from earthquake /tsunami disasters through international cooperation. This event was a memorial one for"International training in seismology and earthquake engineering" initiated by UNESCO, 50 years
ago. Memorial document (Japanese) and CD (English & Japanese) were distributed at thesymposium. Presentations and record will be opened through the IISEE web-site in the near future.
Shoichi ANDO
Director, IISEE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[2] Impressions on International Symposium, Comments from IISEE Participants
1. The International Memorial Symposium was great, not only for us but for all the people involved
and concerned about human lives. Symposium like this help create camaraderie between various
countries representative and give large opportunity for sharing each and every one’s experiences inDisasters and their Rehabilitation programs. Through sharing of experiences we can learn so manythings and I’m sure this experience can help to lessen casualties from a disaster.
(Philippines, E)
2. The symposium is very good for sharing experiences in dealing with the earthquake and tsunami
in each country. (Indonesia, T)

3. The symposium was very good because I believe that protecting life against a natural disastercomes first in our area of work. Very good preparation and logistics of the staff members andespecially to know the institutions that can support us in these cases is also very important. I hope in
the not too distant to be to integrate part of this kind of projects for my country. On the other hand,the party was a unique experience where we could share professional and personal points of views
with colleagues from different areas and make new professional contacts. I really enjoyed, especiallyto share with students and teachers without being subject to the work area. (Dominican Republic, S)
4. The symposium was held successfully for promoting the platform of international cooperation in
reducing earthquake disaster. Through attending this symposium, we know BRI, IISEE and GRIPS
have being engaging in such works and already done a lot. Also the memorial party is very perfect forproviding a good opportunity to chat with each other and enhance the friendship. (China, E)
5. From this symposium, I know how UNESCO works and helps to mitigate natural disasters indeveloping countries. I also know how Japanese government and its people contribute to UNESCO toimplement the tasks of today disasters risk reduction which are mostly needed in developingcountries. One of my interesting topic for this symposium is " Structural Design Requirement on theTsunami Evacuation Buildings," by Dr. Hiroshi FUKUYAMA from BRI. From his speech, I canunderstand that it is very important for building to resist the overturning and buoyancy force bytsunami. He also suggested to consider this important buoyancy force in future designs to resist
tsunami by applying stronger pile foundation. He also suggested to build the buildings about 500m
away from shore line based upon many experiments and analysis. In the evening, we had a very niceparty in which we can see many former staff members of BRI and also speakers from different
countries most of who are actively involved in disaster reductions in their own countries. I thankJICA, BRI and GRIPS for offering us this great opportunity to attend this symposium. (Myanmar, E)
6, In the International Memorial Symposium, detailed observation of the efforts in struggling
disasters worldwide has been presented. From the experiences of relevant presenters, it has beenconcluded that the loss of human lives and major economical loss due to disasters, triggered bynatural phenomena (hazards) has been increasing over the last decade. The main point of theSymposium was to stress the fact that the increased losses are not result of increased hazard, but ofincreased vulnerability of the social communities. Similar symposiums should be organized in all
hazard prone countries in order to put attention to the authorities and community members tostruggle in reducing their rapidly increasing vulnerability. It is the only issue thathuman factor can influence. (Macedonia, E)
IISEE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3] Ex-staff members Party of IISEE was heldIISEE has held Ex-staff members party every five years so far. At the opportunity to hold aninternational memorial symposium, IISEE held an Ex-staffs party this time at the next room ofabove-mentioned symposium, after the event with around 60 participants. Dr. Okamoto, ex-Directorof IISEE (BRI ex-President), Dr. Kitagawa and Dr. Tanahashi and Dr. Ishiyama who were leader ofthe JICA Peru CISMID project also joined the party.
Hajime KUROSAWA
Head of Administration Division, IISEE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[4] English Report on Tornado in Tsukuba
Buildings suffered damage from a tornado which occurred around 12:35 PM on May 6, 2012 centeredin Hojo area, Osuna area and Tsukuba North Industrial Park in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki prefecture.
The following site illustrates outline of damage to buildings and others through the field
investigation.
http://www.kenken.go.jp/english/contents/activities/other/pdf/120522tornado_quick_report_eng_final.pdf
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