IISEE Newsletter
November 30 2015
Number 127

In This Issue• Tohoku Study Trip
• Microtremor Survey
in and around
Kathmandu, Nepal• Letter from ExParticipant• Snapshots of Tohoku
Study Trip

International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering BRI Japan
1 Tachihara Tsukuba Japan 305-0802

tel+81-29-879-0678 facsim+81-29-864-6777

Tohoku Study Trip

By Mr. Takashi Yamashita, Head of IISEE Administration Division

From November 9th (Mon.) to 13th (Fri.), 2015, S Course and E Course visited
Miyagi Prefecture (Sendai, Onagawa and Ishimaki) and Niigata Prefecture(Ojiya, Nagaoka) as a study trip, and T Course visited Miyagi Prefecture(Matsushima, Ishimaki, Onagawa and Minami-Sanriku) and Iwate Prefecture(Kamaishi and Miyako).
For them, the study trip seemed very meaningful since they could observe theprocess of reconstruction from the Chuetsu Earthquakes in 2004 and the Great
East Earthquake in 2011. For the reports by participants, please wait for thenext issue.
We appreciate the support in site by the people in associated institutions andorganizations. (Plese see P4 for the snapshots of the study trip.)

Microtremor Survey in and around Kathmandu,
Nepal
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By Dr. Takumi Hayashida, Senior Research Scientist of IISEE

After the occurrence of the April 25, 2015 Gorkha Earthquake (Mw7.8) inNepal, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) started researchsupport funds “Japan-Nepal Urgent Collaborative Projects (J-RAPID Program)”.
As a member of a research project“InvestigationofGround-motion
toDamage Relationship in the Kathmandu
Valley from Aftershock and Microtremor
Observations (Principal investigators:
Prof. Kazuki Koketsu at the University ofTokyo and Dr. Soma Nath Sapkota,Deputy
DirectorGeneralattheDepartment of Mines and Geology,Ministry of Industry, Nepal)” under the JRAPID program, I visited Nepal from
September 17 to 26 for field survey.

Photo1: Kathmandu basin

Our research team conducted microtremor observations (*1) in the Kathmandu
valley (city center and historical areas) and surrounding damaged areas (e.gChautara, Bahrabise, and Dunche), and damaged school buildings (Sankhuarea) using a portable microtremor sensor (*2), to investigate the relationshipbetween natural periods of ground and soil structure. It was a very short time
for the survey, but we were blessed with fine weather and could obtainmicrotremor data at more than 70 sites. Our observed data in the Kathmandu
valley show dominant peaks of microtremors in the long period range,indicating deep sediment layers.

Earthquakes
The 2011 off the Pacificcoast of Tohoku
Earthquake
Reports of Recent
Earthquakes
Utsu Catalog
Earthquake Catalog
Photo 2: Microtremor observation atthe Patan Durbar Square

Call for Papers
IISEE Bulletin is now
accepting submissionsof papers for the seismol og y, ea rt h qu ake
engineering, andtsunami. Developingcountries are targeted,but are n ot limited.
Your original papers
will be reviewed by theeditorial members andsome experts.
NO submission fee isneed.
Try to challenge!!

Photo 3: Microtremor observation
with onlookers (left: Dr. Hayashida)

Unlike in Japan, many onlookers (local people) surrounded the sensor once westarted measurement. However, since many Nepali people speak English as asecond language, we were able to have them understand the purpose of thesurvey. Some people were interested in our observation and provided us
valuable information such as damages caused by just after the mainshock.
Wealsoinvestigatedearthquake
damagedistributions around the sites
inparallelwiththemicrotremor
observations.
Many houses were collapsedin the areas northwest –northeast of Kathmandu andthe sights left an impression
on me.
We also visited National
SeismologicalCentre,
Department of Mines andPhoto 4: Discussion at NSC-DMG
Geology (NSC-DMG) and had
Mr. Mukunda Bhattarai, Mr.Bijaya Adhikari,adiscussion
withexMr. Umesh Prasad Gautam & Dr. Hayashidaparticipants [Mr. Mukunda(from left to right)
Bhattarai (2004-2005 and2013-2014 Seismology courses), Mr. Lok Bijaya Adhikari (2002-2003
Seismology course, 2013 Global course), Mr. Umesh Prasad Gautam (2010
Global course)].
They have been so busy with daily duties such as collection and provision ofaftershock information and responding to inquiries from other institutes. I am
grateful to them for sparing their valuable time and their cooperation.
*1: The ground is always vibrating with very-small amplitude caused by natural
phenomena such as ocean waves and wind, and human activities (microtremor,ambient vibration or seismic noise). The microtremor data observed for several
and several tens of minutes has information about underground soil structureand ground motion properties of the site.
*2: We used DATAMARK JU-310 (Hakusan corporation) for our microtremor
observations. The sensor is also used for lectures of Regular (S and E) andGlobal courses. We borrowed the instrument from Dr. Kahiwa at theDepartment of Structural Engineering, BRI.

Letter from Ex-Participant✑✉Mr. Adisorn Foongkajorn:
DirectorChiang Mai Seismic Station (CHTO/IU) of Thailand(Thailand, Seismology Course, 1982-83)

Enjoy, Now

One of our ex-participants, Mr. Adisorn Foongkajorn,
kindly sent us a greeting e-mail as below:“Dear Sir,
I am Adisorn Foongkajorn, an ex-participant of IISEE (1982-83, Seismology).
Now I am Director of Chiang Mai Seismic Station (CHTO/IU) of Thailand.

Contact Us
The IISEE Newsletter isintended to act as ago-between for IISEE
and ex-participants.
We encourage you tocontribute a report andan article to this newsletter. Please let us
know your current
activities in yourcountries.
We also welcome yourco-workers and friends
to register our mailinglist.
iiseenews@kenken.go.jp
http://iisee.kenken.go.jp

I would like to thank JICA, IISEE and all staff who have made me have thesedays. When people ask me where did I study, I proudly answer that I studied at
International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering, Japan.
Whenever I arrive my office I never forget to think about what I got from theinstitute. It makes me an outstanding one in the career. And of course it makes
me proud of myself. Thank you very much again for what you made me so.
I still got year books and newsleters from the IISEE and JICA. They make me
feel close to you and follow up what are going on here.
Now technology on seismology is very advanced compared to the past
especially on earthquake monitoring.
For an example we can access seismic data from CHTO realtime via an iris
request form (http://ds.iris.edu/ds/nodes/dmc/forms/breqfast-request/). And
we can also analyze the data on an application available on the internet such as
DIMAS developed by USGS (ftp://ftp.emsd.ru/private/ddv/dimas2008/). I thinkthese can help people monitor earthquakes in and around their homes.
I have not only made an article concerning the above idea to public via ouroffice website but also explained and instructed them how to do so. Thanks tothe IISEE and JICA who not only made me to get knowledge from the institutebut also the public nation wide.
I would like to wish you all happiness and prosperity for the upcoming
Christmas and New Year. I hope to visit the institute once after long time.

Back Numbers
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From my best regards,Adisorn Foongkajorn
Ex-participant of IISEE.”✐Snapshots of Tohoku Study Trip

Sendai Plain (T)Taro, Miyako City (T)Sendaijo(castle ruin) (S&E)

Kamaishi Port (T)Kogomo, Yamakoshi, Nagaoka City(S&E)
Zuiganji (T)Ojiya General Hospital (S&E)

Ojiya City (S&E)
Zuiganji (S&E)