Roles of Civil Engineers for Disaster Mitigation
under Changes of Natural and Social Environments
byMasanori HAMADA
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environment Engineering
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
President of Japan Society of Civil Engineers
1. Introduction
The natural environmental changes such as global warming, heat island phenomena in mega cities, the decreaseof the forest, desertification and erosion of rivers, are resulting in extremely heavy rains and snows, huge
typhoons and hurricanes, abnormally high temperature, and high tidal waves. In addition to the change of naturalenvironment, our social environment is also changing and it is becoming fragile against natural disasters. Thoseare highly congested urban areas, depopulation of rural areas, human habitation on disaster-prone lands, lack ofcooperation and communication among recent urban societies, and insufficient infrastructures for disastermitigation. The characteristics of the natural disasters are changing due to the changes of the natural and social
environment.
This paper briefly reviews the recent natural disasters in the world and associated subjects. Furthermore, theauthor discusses the basic concept of the policies for the natural disaster mitigation and the roles of civilengineers.

NUMBER OF EVENTS

8
7

Asia

America

EuropeOthers

6
5
4
3
2
1
2001

More than M7.0

800

140

More than M6.0

700

120

600

100

500

80

400

60

300

40

200

20

100
56

61

〜

66

〜

71

〜

76

〜

81

〜

86

〜

91

〜

96

〜

01

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

2000

05

Figure 2 Number of Earthquakes with
Magnitudes More than 7 andMore than 6
1

〜

51

〜

2000 05

1946

〜

0

Figure 1 Damaging Earthquakes and Tsunamis in
the World in the Last 60 Years (Eventswith more than 1000 casualties)

900

160

〜

95

96

〜

90

91

〜

85

86

〜

80

81

〜

75

76

〜

70

71

〜

65

66

〜

60

61

〜

55

56

〜

50

51

〜

1946

〜

〜

0

180

0

Number of Events（More than M6.0）

Number of Events（More than M7.0）

2. Natural Disasters and Climate Change in the World
2.1 Recent Earthquake and Tsunami Disasters in the World
During recent few years, the disastrous earthquakes and tsunamis have attacked the Asian countries. The 2004
Sumatra earthquake and consequent tsunami killed more than 2 hundred thousand people in the areas around theIndian Ocean1). In the same year, a devastating earthquake caused serious damage to Niigata Prefecture, Japan2)
due to extensive slope failures in mountainous areas. In 2005, about 70 thousand people were killed in Pakistan3),and last year, a disastrous earthquake attacked the Java Island, Indonesia.
Figure 1 shows the number of earthquakes and tsunamis with more than one thousand casualties in each five
years period during the last 60 years in the world. The number of events has drastically increased in the last two
decades.
The number of earthquakes with magnitudes more than 7.0 and more than 6.0 in the world during the last 60
years is shown in Figure 2. On the contrary of the increase of the earthquake and tsunami disasters, the number ofOthers
Europeoccurrences of earthquakes with magnitudes more
Others8％ (2)
8％ (42,300)
America
1％ (4,866)
2％(8,359)than 7.0 has been decreasing during the last 60 years.
Europe12％ (3)The number of the earthquakes with more than 6.0
slightly increased during the last decade, but was notconsistent with the rapid increase of the number of theearthquake and tsunami disasters. This suggests that
Asia
Asia
89％
America
64％ (16)
the reason of the increase of the earthquake and(496,656)
16％ (4)tsunami disasters is the increase of the vulnerability of
The ratio of events
The ratio of casualties
Total number of events: 25 The number of casualties : 552,181
our human societies. The regional ratio of the numberof the earthquake and tsunami disasters and of the Figure 3 Regional Ratio of Earthquake Tsunami
Events and Casualties (1986–2005
number of causalities during the last two decades is
Events with More than 1000 Casualties)
shown in Figure 3. 25 earthquake and tsunami disasters
occurred in the world. Among them, 16 events were in Asian region. About five hundred thousands people, which
are almost 90% of the total number of casualties in the world were killed in Asian region.
2.2 Recent Storm and Flood Disasters in the World
Storm and flood disasters also have suffered the people in the world in recent years. During the last decade, 21
disasters killed one hundred thousands people. Most of the storm and flood disasters were concentrated in the
Asian region and Central America. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina attacked Louisiana in United States, and killed
more than 5 thousand people. In 2004, the Asian countries such as Japan, Philippines, India and Bangladesh
suffered from many typhoons and heave rains, and about four thousand lives were lost.
Figure 4 shows the number of storm and flood disasters with more than one thousands casualties in each five
years period during the last 60 years. The storm and flood disasters in the world have also increased during the lasttwo decades. And, the disasters in Asia are dominant. The regional ratio of the number of the storm and flood
disasters and the number of causalities is shown in Figure 5. 31 events occurred during the last two decades in
the world, and 23 events, which was about three quarters of the total number, attacked the Asian region. About
two hundred thousand lives, which is almost 80% of the total causalities were lost by storm and flood disasters in
the Asian region.
There may be two main reasons for the increase of the flood and storm disasters. One is the increase of thevulnerability of the human societies against disasters, which is particularly remarkable in the Asian countries.
Another reason may be the global climate change. Figure 6 illustrates the change of air temperature and seawatertemperature in the world during the last 40 years. The air temperature raised about 0.5 degree in centigrade andthe sea water temperature raised 0.3 degree. The rise of seawater temperature can be considered to be one ofcauses of the occurrence of huge typhoons and hurricanes, and high tidal waves.

14

Number of Events

12
10

Asia

America

EuropeOthersOthersOthers1％ (2,000)

3％ (1)

America

America

23％ (7)22％ (54,033)

8
6
4
Asia

2
Asia
56

〜

61

〜

66

〜

71

〜

76

〜

81

〜

86

〜

91

〜

96

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

2000 05

Figure 4

74％ (23)

〜

51

〜

1946

〜

〜

0

77％
（193,600）

2001

The ratio of events
Number of events: 31

Damaging Storms and Floods in theWorld during the Last Half Century(Events with more than 1000 casualties)

Figure 5

2

The ratio of casualties
Number of casualties: 249,633

Regional Ratio of Storm and Flood andAssociated Casualties (1986–2005,
Events with More than 1000 Casualties)

Temperature
Change（℃）

2.3 Recent Natural Disasters and Climate
Change in JapanThe locations of earthquake disasters after the
1995 Kobe earthquake are shown in Figure 7. The
total 6 thousand and five hundred lives were lost,
including the Kobe earthquake. We have learned newlessons from each past earthquake. From the Kobe
earthquake, we learned lack of earthquake resistanceof concrete bridges, subway structures and buildings
against the strong earthquake ground motions in thenear field of the earthquake fault. A large man-madeisland reclaimed from the sea extensively wasliquefied resulting in severe damage to structures
such as storage tanks, and quaywalls.
The Niigata earthquake in 2004 taught us new
lessons, one of which was an overlap of different
natural disasters. Three days before the earthquake ahuge typhoon attacked the same area with heavy
rains. The slopes in the mountainous area andembankments were saturated. The earthquake groundmotion caused huge landslides and embankment
failures. Liquefaction also caused severe damage tolifeline systems, and strong ground motion in thevicinity of the fault derailed the bullet train,
Shinkansen. This derailment of Shinkansen exposeda serious social subject, which is how to balance therisk with a large benefit of the high-speed train forthe society and the people.
The recent flood and storm disasters in Japan are
shown in Figures 9 and 10. Flood and storm disasters
with casualties meaningfully occurred twice a year,
and about 5 hundred lives were lost during the last
decade. Last year, a huge mudflow, which wascaused by a heavy rain, attacked residential area in
Nagano Prefecture, and killed 12 people. In 2004,
Itsukushima shrine, one of national treasures wasseverely damaged by high tidal wave and strong
wind by a large-scale typhoon. In 2005, a downpour
with 100 mm rain per hour flooded a wide area of thedowntown of Tokyo. This is considered to be causedby the heat island phenomena in highly urbanizedmega cities.
Figure 11 shows the change of the temperature andthe rain falls in Japan. The mean temperature inwhole area of Japan raised about 0.7°C during thelast 30 years, and 1.0°C in Tokyo. The number of therainfalls with more than 100 mm per hour in Japan

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
1966

71

76

81

86

91

96

2001

96

2001

Temperature
Change（℃）(a) Air Temperature
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
1966

71

76

81

86

91

(b) Sea Water Temperature

Figure 6 Temperature Change of Air and Sea Waterin the World 4)

2003.9.26 Tokachi-oki EQ.
(Death：1，Missing：1，Injured：849)

1995.1.17 Hygoken Nanbu EQ.
(Death：6434，Missing：3)
2000.10.6 Tottoriken Seibu EQ.
(Injured：182)
2005.3.20 Fukuokaken

Seiho-oki EQ.

(Death：1，Injured：1087)

2003.5.26 Miyagiken-oki EQ.
(Injured：174)
2005.8.16 Miyagiken-oki EQ.
(Injured：91)

2003.7.26 Miyagiken-oki EQ.
(Injured：677)
2004.10.23 Niigata EQ.
(Death：65，Injured：4795)
2001.3.24 Geiyo EQ.
(Death：2，Injured：288)

1997.5.13 Kagoshimaken

Satsuma-chiho EQ.
(Injured：74)； The Disaster with Death and Missing

Figure 7 Recent Earthquake Disasters in Japan(1995–) (The Number of Death andMissing : 6507)(a) Slope Failure(b) Embankment Failure(c) Uplift of Sewage
Manholes(d) Derailment of Shinkanse(Bullet Train)

Figure 8 Disaster by the 2004 Niigata Earthquake3has been increasing during the last decade.

1996 Mud Flow (14)

3. Basic Concepts of the Policy against Future
Disasters under the Change of Natural andSocial Environments
The natural environment is changing. Thosechanges are global warning, heat Island phenomena
in urbanized area, deforestation, desertification anderosion of river and seashore. The change of naturalenvironment is increasing natural disasters. Thoseare extremely heavy rains and snows, huge typhoons,hurricanes and cyclones, drought, abnormally hightemperature and high tidal waves due to the rising ofsea water level. In addition to the change of naturalenvironment, our social environment is alsochanging, becoming fragile against natural disasters.
Those are too congested urban areas, depopulation ofrural area, human habitations on fragile ground, lackof cooperation and communication among the recent
urban societies, budget deficit of central and rural
governments, and finally poverty. The poverty is themost important factor for the increase of the natural
disasters in the Asian countries. The poverty is
expanding the disaster, and the disaster is worsening
the poverty.
The characteristics of natural disaster are changing
due to the change of natural and social environments.
What is the basic policy against these kind of natural
disasters? The key point for the measures against
future disasters is how to prepare unexpected natural
phenomena and against external forces largely
exceeding the design level. In another word, how to
prepare against natural disasters with a huge scale,2006.7 Heavy Rain by
Seasonal Rain Front (30)2003.8 Typhoon No.10(23)

2004.8 Typhoon No.15 (10)2004.7 Heavy Rain (16)2004.10 Typhoon No.23 (98)1998.8 Heavy Rain (22)1999.6 Heavy Rain by
Seasonal Rain Front (23)1999.8 Tropical Depression (17)1998.9 Typhoon
No.18 (31)2005.9 Flood in Tokyo (0)2000.9 Heavy Rainand Typhoon No.14 (10)2005.6 Heavy Rain by
Seasonal Rain Front (12)2004.9 Typhoon No.21 (21)2004.8 Typhoon
No.18 (45)1997.7 Mud Flow
(21)

1998.9 Typhoon No.7,No.8(19)2003.7 Heavy Rain (23)1998.10 Typhoon No.10 (13)2005.9 Typhoon No.14 (29)（ ）; Number of Death and Missing

Figure 9 Recent Floods and Storm Disasters inJapan (1996–) (The Number of Deathand Missing : 477)

The number of death and missing：45

The number of deathand missing：12(b) 2004 Itsukushima-shrine
which was Destroyed by
Typhoon No.18 (Hiroshima)(a) 2006 Mud Flow by
Heavy Rain (Nagano)

The number of death and missing：31(c) 1999 Tidal Wave by
Typhoon No.18(Kumamoto)(d) 2005 Flood by Heavy
Rain (Tokyo)

Figure 10 Recent Flood and Storm Disaster in Japan
Change of Mean
Temp.（℃）1.5(b) Mean Temperature in Tokyo
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
-1.5 1976
81
86
91

NumberChange of Mean
Temp.（℃）

Change of Natural Environment
1.5 （a） Mean Temperature in Japan
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
-1.5 1976
81
86

91

96

・Global Warming・Heat Island of Urbanized Area
・Deforestation
・Desertification
・Erosion of River and Seashore

2001

Increase of a disaster by a change
of a natural environment
・Heavy Rain and Snow
・Huge Typhoon , Hurricane andCyclone・Drought
・High temperature
・High Tidal Wave

Change of Social Environment

96

・Congestion of Urban Area
・Depopulation of Rural Area
・Human Habitation on Fragile Ground・Lack of Cooperation andCommunication among Societies
・Budget Deficit of Central and Rural
Governments
・Poverty2001

12 (c) Number of Heavy Rains with 100mm/hour
10
8
6
4
2
0 1976
81
86
91
96

2001
（Japan Meteorological Agency）

Change of Characteristics
of Natural Disasters

・Measures against Unexpected
Natural Phenomena and External
Forces more than Design Level
・Measures against Huge Natural
Disasters with Low Probability

Figure 12 Basic Concepts of the Policy against
Future Disasters under the Changes
of Natural and Social Environment

Figure 11 Change of Mean Temperature and Rain
Falls in Japan 4) (1976–2004)
4

Natural Disaster Mitigation by Combination

External Forces

Hardware Measures

Natural Disaster Mitigation by Combination
but low probability of occurrence.
of Hardware and Software Measures
Moderates Disasters with
Huge Disasters with
Figure 13 illustrates a basic concept for the
Medium Probability
Low Probability
measures against huge natural disasters with low
Reinforcement ofHardware Measures
probability of occurrence. That is a combination of
hardware measures and software measures.
SoftwareMeasures
Hardware measures mean, for an example,
Risk and Cost of Measures
reinforcement of dikes against floods, and the soft
Risk (Total Loss ×Probability) ＜＞ Cost of Measuresware measures are evacuation systems during flood
Factors for Estimation of Total Loss
Loss of Human Lives and Properties , Decline of National Power , Ruin of National
and the education of people. Moderate disasters withLand , Psychological Damage to People
Consensus of People on Investment for Measures
medium probability are prevented mainly by
Evaluation and Public Release of Probable Risk , Common understandings of
Responsibilities for Public Measures , Community Cooperation and Private Efforts
hardware measures.
However, against huge
Figure 13 Measures against Huge Natural Disasters
disasters with low probability, the disaster is reducedwith Low Probability
both by hardware and software measures.
The problem is how to determine the rational level of the investment for disaster mitigation. One of methods
to judge the rational level of the investment is the comparison of the risk with the cost of the measures. The risk
is estimated as the product of the total loss with the probability. For the estimation of the total loss, we have totake into consideration, various factors, not only loss of human lives and properties, but also probable national
power decline resulting from the disaster, ruining of national landscape and furthermore, psychological damage
to people. And the consensus among the people is essential to determine the rational level of disaster mitigation
measures.

4. Future Earthquakes Threatening Japanese Mega Cities
As shown in Figure 14, large earthquakes, which have high probabilities of occurrence, are threatening theJapanese mega cities such as Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Sendai. Figure 14 shows the source areas of those futureearthquakes. The three earthquakes along the Nankai trough in the Pacific Ocean, Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai
earthquakes have large magnitudes of 8 or more. The probabilities of the occurrence of these earthquakes are
predicted to be very high. In the case of Tokai earthquake, the probability of occurrence in the next thirty years ismore than 80%.
The northern Tokyo Bay earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 has also high probability, 70% within next thirty
years. In the case of Miyagi earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5, which is threatening the Sendai City, theprobability is estimated as 99%. As shown in the figure, many mega cities of Japan are under the threat of being
hit by disastrous earthquakes in very near future.
Table 1 shows the result of the damage assessment by the Northern Tokyo Bay earthquake by the National
Council of Disaster Prevention of Japan under a condition, that is, the wind speed is 15m/s. If the earthquake did
National Council for Disaster Prevention JAPAN

Table 1 Assessment of Damage by the Northern
Tokyo Bay Earthquake 5)(Magnitude, Probability of Occurrence within Next Thirty Years)
Sendai- Tokyo and The Neighboring Three Prefectures - (Wind Speed 15 m/s)

Tokai Earthquake(M:8.0, 86%)

Items

Tonankai Earthquake(M:8.1, 60%)

Miyagi Earthquake(M:7.5, 99%)

Nankai Earthquake(M:8.4, 50%)

Number ofCollapsedor Burnt
House and
Buildings

Tokyo
NagoyaOsaka

Northern Tokyo Bay Earthquake(M:7.3, 70%)
Nankai TroughPacific Ocean

Figure 14

150,000

150,000

110,000

160,000

650,000

7,000

Liquefaction,
Slope Sliding, etc

35,00050,00046

Total

360,000

850,000

117,000

4,200

3,100

4,915

400

6,200

550

Slope Sliding

1,000

900

37

Total

5,600

11,000

5,520

Fire

Refugees
Economic Loss

5

Kobe
Earthquake

Fire

Number of People unable to gohome (12:00AM)

Future Earthquakes with High Probabilities
to Hit The Mega Cities in Japan 5)

6:00 PM

Ground Motion

Collapse of Houses
Death

5:00 AM6,500,000
4,600,000

237,000$ 1.1 Trillion$ 110 Billion

occur at 6 PM, the Council estimated the number of collapsed or burnt houses and building as about 850,000 in
Tokyo area, including the neighboring three prefectures, that would be about seven times of the damage causedby the Kobe earthquake. The resulting fires would burn more than 650,000 houses and buildings. The total
number of the death is estimated as 11,000, and among them about 6,000 people would be killed by the fire after
the earthquake. Furthermore, if the earthquake occurred at noon, 6.5 million people could not go home on the
day of occurrence of the earthquake due to the destructive damage to the transportation systems. And the numberof refugees is estimated to be 4.6 million, which is about 20 times of the number in the case of the Kobe
earthquake. The total economic loss reaches over 1.1 trillion US dollars, which is almost 1.5 times of the total
amount of national budget of Japan.
5. Roles of Civil Engineers for Natural Disaster Mitigation
The first role of civil engineers for the natural disaster mitigation is the development of technologies forenhancement of infrastructures, such as technologies for the improvement of soft soil, high-performance
structures, and warning and rescue systems. The second role is actual construction of infrastructures with highnatural disaster resistance. The third role of civil engineers is the involvement in the rescue operation, andrestoration and reconstruction works after natural disasters.
A large number of infrastructures such as highways, railways, port-harbor facilities have been constructed on
improved soft alluvial and man-made ground along the seaside of the Tokyo Bay. Various kinds of methods for
improvement of soft alluvial and artificial ground have been developed. Technologies such as passive and active
control systems have been developed to reduce the dynamic effects on buildings and bridges during earthquakes,
and have been applied to a large number of structures.
The 1995 Kobe earthquake destroyed a huge amount of infrastructures. Therefore, Reinforcement of existing
infrastructures against future earthquakes has been one of most important roles of civil engineers after the Kobe
earthquake. A numerous number of infrastructures such as railway and highway bridges, and subway stations havebeen reinforced.
The real time earthquake warning system has been developed and applied to some practical uses as shown in
Figure 16. In this system, the magnitude and the epicenter of earthquakes will be judged by the ground motion
records in the vicinity of earthquake faults, and if the earthquake has such a large magnitude as to cause serious
damage, the warning will be sent to various organizations before the arrival of the main ground motion of theearthquake. Based on the warning, the high-speed trains will be stopped, and the road and air traffic will becarefully controlled. The operation of the various kinds of plants will be shutdown, and the water gates will beclosed against the tsunami. In the case of Tokai earthquake, the time allowance before arrival of the main shocks
is estimated as about 50 seconds in Tokyo area.
In low land areas in Tokyo, which has lower elevation than river water level, so-called “super levee” has been

1. Development of Technologies forEnhancement of Natural Disaster
Resistance of Infrastructures

2. Construction of
Infrastructures with HighNatural Disaster Resistance・Improvement of Soft Soil andDeep Foundation
・High-Performance Structures
・Warning and Rescue Systems

Civil
EngineersTime Allowance before Arrivalof S-Waves (Tokai E.Q.)

・Diagnosis andReinforcement of Existing
Structures
・Flood Control Tunnel
・Reinforcement of River
Bank・Seawall against Tsunami
・Active and Passive Control
System for Buildings andBridges

Stopping of Trains
45
25
20

40
35
30

Stopping ofOperation at Plants

15 10 5Control of Landing and Taking off

3. Rescue Operation and Restoration
and Reconstruction Works after
Natural Disasters

Epicenter ofTokai E.Q.
Closing of Water Gates

Observation
Point of
Earthquake
Motion(0 sec)・Unmanned Construction Works

Warning(7 sec)Shizuoka City
(17 sec)Tokyo(47 sec)

Time
Control of Road Traffic

Figure 15 Roles of Civil Engineers for Natural
Disaster Mitigation

Figure 16 Real Time Earthquake Warning System6constructed against future earthquakes and for development of the areas with high natural disaster resistance, as
shown in Figure 17. New banking behind the original riverbank elevated a wide area and the area wasredeveloped to enhance the natural disaster resistance, by creating open spaces for the rescue operation and byconstructing high earthquake resistant buildings.
6. Cooperation and Collaboration of Civil Engineers in the Asia-Pacific Region for Natural Disaster
Mitigation
As mentioned previously, natural disasters are increasing, and the environments are destructed, particularly in
Asian countries. The roles and the responsibilities of civil engineers are increasing. The transfer of thetechnologies for natural disaster mitigation and environment protection should be strongly promoted, andfurthermore, we civil engineers should work together on the education of the people for natural disaster mitigation,and should more actively participate to the technical support activities for reconstruction and restoration of theareas damaged by natural disasters. For these activities, we have to further advance the cooperation andcollaboration among our civil engineers societies in the Asia-Pacific region.
JSCE is encouraging its members to participate to the technical assistance activities for the areas damaged bynatural disasters and to the education for natural disaster mitigation. JSCE and its members have continued toprovide assistances and aid activities in Northern Sumatra after tsunami disasters. In response to the request fromthe Indonesian Government, JSCE prepared a technical recommendations on the plan of reconstruction of the road
along the west coast of north Sumatra, most of which had been washed away by the tsunami. JSCE also proposeda regional tsunami warning system. This is the request from the state government. The student members of JSCE
have been educating children in Sumatra on the earthquake and tsunami disaster mitigation.
Figure 18 illustrates the basic concept of a regional tsunami warning system for Sumatra Island, proposed by
JSCE. In this warning system, the epicenter and the magnitude of the earthquake will be estimated from theseismic records at the stations along the west coast of Sumatra. The warning, which will be transmitted from thetsunami-warning center to the regional mosques through the satellites, is conveyed to the people. One of thecharacteristic points of this warning system is utilization of mosques, which are closely associated with theregional people, and have comparatively high resistance against tsunami and earthquake motions.
The student members of JSCE are carrying on education programs for children of Banda Ache and other areasin the northern Sumatra. They are teaching the mechanism of the occurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis and how
to save lives from the future disasters. Japanese students are conducting their activities under a close corporation

Super-Levee is an infrastructure
for safety of habitants and also
for urban redevelopment
River Side Area of Tokyo(Before the construction of a Super-Levee)

Original River Bank
River zone
(After the construction of a Super-Levee)

Original River Bank

New Banking
Super-Levee special zone
River zone

Figure 17 Construction of the Super-Levee in Low
Land Area of Tokyo against Future
Earthquake

Figure 18 Plan for Regional Tsunami Warning
System by JSCE (For North Sumatra
Provincial Government)7

with Indonesian student groups. These young civil(1)Technical Supports
Public Sectors
engineers’ activities are expanding internationally.
・Ministry of Foreign Affairs
for Restoration and・JICA
Reconstruction to
The technical assistances by JSCE have been
the Affected Area
Supportcarried out in Indonesia and Pakistan for the areas(2)Education on
SupportNatural Disaster
Japan
JapanSociety
Societyattacked the recent disasters. In Nias Island,NPO
Mitigation
NPOofofCivil
CivilEngineers
Engineers(3)Transfer ofEngineers
Engineerswithout
without
Indonesia, technical seminars for temporary
Borders
Technologies andBorders,,Japan
Japan
Architectural
Architectural
Knowledge for
InstituteofJapanrestoration of bridges damaged by liquefaction
Institute of Japan
SupportJoiningNatural Disaster
Mitigation
have been held, while In Pakistan, the members ofSeniorvolunteer
Senior volunteer
PrivateJSCE held conferences on the reconstruction ofPrivateSectors
Sectors
Engineers・Construction Companies
Engineers
・Construction
Companies
・Construction
Consultants
damaged structures, under a cooperation with the・Construction Consultants
Pakistani engineers. In these conferences, JSCE
Figure 19 NPO : Engineers without Borders , Japan
introduced the reconstruction procedures based on
the experiences gained from Kobe earthquake.
Recently, members of JSCE and Architectural Institute of Japan established a NPO, named “Engineers without
Borders, Japan”. The objectives of this NPO are to provide technical supports for restoration and reconstructionof the damaged areas, and to carry out education on disaster mitigation. Another important role of this NPO is thetransfer of the technologies and knowledge for natural disaster mitigation. JSCE is going to strongly promoteassistance and aid activities under a close cooperation with this newly established organization.
7. Conclusions
Natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami, and storm and flood disasters have been increasing during
last two decade, particularly in the Asian countries. Furthermore, due to the change of natural and social
environments, the scale of the natural disasters is expanding. For the mitigation of the future natural disasters, theroles and the responsibilities of civil engineers are increasing. Furthermore, the cooperation and collaboration ofcivil engineers in the world are essential to accomplish these errands.
JSCE and the other organizations of civil engineers in the world have been in a good partnership during decades,
and have served people for the safe living and welfare. However, the recent natural disasters into world taught us
again that the development and application of technologies and knowledge for natural disaster mitigation are theurgent subject for civil engineers. We have to strengthen and to further advance the cooperation between twosocieties.
References
1) Japan Society of Civil Engineers : The Damage Induced by Sumatra Earthquake and Associated Tsunami ofDecember 26, 2004, 2005.8.
2) Japan Society of Civil Engineers and Architectural Institute of Japan : A Quick Report on Kashimir
Earthquake, 2005.11.
3) Japan Society of Civil Engineers : General Investigation about the Damage of Social Infrastructure Systems
due to the 2004 Niigata Earthquake / Result of Investigations and Urgent Proposals, 2004.11.
4) Japan Meteorological Agency : A Report on Abnormal Weather 2005, 2005.10.
5) Cabinet Office, Government of Japan : White Paper on Disaster Prevention, 2006.

8