ICUS NEWSLETTER
International Center for Urban Safety Engineering

Institute of Industrial Science
The University of Tokyo

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 1
APRIL-JUNE 2006

International Center for
Urban Safety Engineering

COMMUNICATING RISKS TO THE PUBLIC
By
Toshiko KIKKAWA*
WHAT IS RISKCOMMUNICATION?
Definitions of risk and risk
communication
Although there are somevariants of the definition of risk andrisk communication, the mostaccepted one was given by the
National Research Council in the
United States which is a part of the
National Academies providing
science, technology and healthpolicy advice under a congressional

charter. In its epoch-making reporton risk communication, it is statedthat “an act or phenomenon is said
to pose a hazard when it has thepotential to produce harm or other
undesirable consequences to someperson or thing” and that “theconcept of risk further quantifies
hazards by attaching the probabilityof being realized to each level ofpotential harm.” In short, risk can
be def ined as a probability ofhazard occurrence.
The report def ined risk

Risk communication failure: Warnings about tobacco
related health problems are hidden behind price tags

communication as: “an interactive
process of exchange of informationand opinion among individuals,
groups, and institutions. It involves
multiple messages about the nature ofrisk and other messages, not strictly
about risk, that express concerns,
opinions, reactions to risk messageso r t o l eg a l a n d i n s t i t u t i o n a larrangements to risk management.”
The emphasis of the definition iso n t h e i n t e r a c t ive p r o c e s s o fcommunication among interested
parties. Risk communication is not aone-way message that delivers theresults of scientific risk assessments
and the political decisions based on
the assessments from risk experts to
the general public. The risk experts,
e.g. scientists, governmental officials,
or business persons, are those whohave more and detailed information
about risks.

page 2
The figure on this page gives agraphical representation of risk
communication. Risk messages aredelivered from risk experts to interested
people and concerns, opinions, orreactions to risk messages or to risk
management are delivered frominterested people to risk experts.
In the past, only risk experts could
have access to the information andwere assumed to make appropriate
decisions based on reasonable
evidence. This meant, on the contrary,that the general public had little accessto information and was excluded fromdecision-making.
Historical background of risk
communication
The word “risk communication” isa relatively new concept in the field ofrisk management. It has emerged anddrawn attention since late 70’s or early
80’s. The reasons for this might bethree: the increase in risk problems,changes in nature of risks, and rises inconcerns for people’s rights to know
and participate in democratic societies.
The former two deal with risks
themselves and the last one deals witha social aspect.
Firstly, risk problems haveincreased. Fair examples of this areenvironmental pollution and infectious
diseases. Environmental pollution has
been increasing presumably becauseof the urbanization and population
growth. The spreading of infectious
diseases such as AIDS has also
become a serious problem partly
because of the development oftransportation systems that enable aworld-wide interaction of people. The
increase of risk problems would imply
that risks are ubiquitous in our society.
Therefore, for people who want toavoid these increasing risks as much as
possible, information concerning themhas become more important than everbefore.
Secondly, the nature of risks haschanged, thus the importance of risk
communication has increased. Even
exper ts may sometimes f inddifficulties in assessing risks because
either the hazard or the risk
probability is uncertain or both ofthem are uncer tain. The word
“uncertain” implies that certain
substances may have adverse effects

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 1

Risk Communicationin the long run, but currently, tools for a position that seemed to support themeasuring risks are not well beef industry rather than admitting to,developed or there is little or no and informing about, the risk, however
available data. Risks can also be said small it might be. This bureaucratic
to be uncertain in case that there are mismanagement finally led to thedisputes among experts about how to overnight collapse of the British beefinterpret the data or estimate the market after the official recognition.
probability.
Beef consumption across the European
Let me take some examples. Union dropped 11% in 1996, and the
Natural hazards such as earthquakes EU spent 2.8 billion US dollars inor volcanic eruptions will cause subsidies alone for the beef industry.
catastrophic consequences but the The U.K. cost is estimated over 4
probabilities of such natural hazards billion pounds.
can not be exactly estimated. They
In addition, there are social costs
may occur once in every fifty years, or which are slower and more difficult toperhaps more or less frequently. account for than economic ones. The
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy examples of them are management(BSE), commonly known as mad cow distrust, collapse of farmers’ lives, anddisease, is another example whose so on. Although risk experts, especiallyconsequence is cr uel but its business persons and governmental
pathogenic probability is still unclear.
officials, often focus only on short term
The vague nature of these risks economic cost, it might be wiser tomakes risk communication more approach these risk situations from adifficult and thus sometimes leads to wider perspective, including social
inappropriate political decisions of aspects. Risk communication is one ofrisk experts. For example, in case of the promising approaches for dealing
the Minamata disease in Japan, where with such situations as it requires aserious mercury poisoning was caused long-range perspective of scientific,
by eating contaminated fish, victims economic, and social risk management.
were left unattended during theLastly, there has been increasing
dispute on the cause of the symptom concern on the peoples’ rights to know
among medical professionals and and participate in political decisiongovernmental officials. The situation making in democratic societies. As the
became more serious during the former has been widely recognized,
dispute and the resulting inaction cost people are more carefully scrutinizing
dearly in the long run.
the political process as to whether
The BSE crisis in the United information is censored or not.
Kingdom is another example of failure Furthermore, they ask to participate inin risk communication, which led to the decision-making process from themismanagement. The first discovery of very beginning stage of the planning,the disease in British cattle was in something they had never been
1986. However, it was not until 1996 involved in before. If risk experts suchthat the British Government officially as governmental officials and businessrecognized the link between a new persons ignore this desire, serious andvariant of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease and persistent resistance that can not be
the consumption of beef from cattle resolved in the short term is likely. To
with BSE. During this inaction period, avoid such hopeless confusion infrom the perspective of risk advance, it might be better to build acommunication, the Government took system for public participation.

page 3
Examples of them are ‘public
involvement’ or ‘public counseling’plans which are realized and, in somecases, institutionalized in the US,
Europe, Japan, and so on.
Misconceptions about risk
communication
At the very beginning when theconcept of risk communication was
proposed, it might have been thoughtof as a tool for communicating theresults of scientific risk assessments tolay persons. It was sometimes used asa tool to persuade laypersons to accept
risks.
However, there can be an inherent
flaw in this assumption. Risk experts are
sometimes wrong in the sense that they
underestimate risks. Unfortunately,some risks are found to be higher thantheir estimation as in the above
mentioned BSE case. The problem isthat they often wish to persuade lay
persons to accept these risks as being
so low as to be negligible. Thissituation may prove to be not only
wrong, but also disastrous. The tragic
consequence of the negligence ended
with huge loss of lives, as in the casesof HIV-contaminated blood,
September 11 terrorism, and so on.
Governmental officials might havereceived some underestimatedforewarnings and the number ofvictims increased as a result of theunderestimation.
Furthermore, there is conflict
between risk experts and the public
when the officials are slow to react tothe increasing public concerns andinterpret these as public overreaction.
The possible result of the conflict may
be that the risk exper ts areundermined.
Let me again take the case of BSE.
For nearly 10 years, the British
government insisted there was no risk,or the risk was so small that it could be
neglected. The persuasion might havebeen effective at first, but slowly lostits effectiveness as contradictory data
prevailed. At the end of this story, itachieved adverse effects on theattitudes of people and the society.
Once tr ust in management is
destroyed, it becomes difficult to
inform people even if the informationis true the subsequent time. Destroying
trust is easy, but rebuilding it needs a

Settings of Risk Communicationceaseless and tremendous effort. It by showing, for example, a dramaticmight be easier to disclose information f ilm of victims, and thenand properly inform people from the recommending taking protective
very beginning rather than to make a, measures.
long, huge communication effort
Risk communication
afterwards.
Risk communication is a trust- of the public debate
In the public debate setting, manybuilding process in the ideal andpractical sense. It requires disclosure interested parties will try to reach aof communication among interested consensus through many paths ofparties in democratic societies and it communication. In this setting, risk
really works as a kind of ‘insurance’ communication requires all theinterested parties to participate in thefor the future as well.
decision-making from the very
SETTINGS OF RISK
beginning of the process.
COMMUNICATION
It is unfortunate but possible, that,R i s k c o m m u n i c a t i o n even if being properly informed of risksof personal choice
and having thoroughly discussed them,
The National Research Council people involved may not reach adistinguished two types of risk consensus. This is partially because
communication settings: personal people have their own values andchoice and public debate.
cultures to which they adhere.
The figure on this page gives thetypology of risk communication Towa rd a s u c c e s s f u l r i s ksettings. Examples of personal choice communication
To make risk communication
setting are risk communication of
consumer products, health problems, successful, two crucial factors, that is,and disasters. Examples of the public disclosure of information anddebate setting are risk communication transparency should be guaranteed inof nuclear energy, genetically modified the decision-making process.
Firstly, disclosing all information
food, environmental problems, etc.
In the personal choice setting, a regarding risks to the public increases
person is informed of risks and, whether the probability that additional risks or
he/she will accept the risks is flaws in management approaches are
determined by his/her own choice. It is found. As the number of people who are
known that one of the biggest problems involved increases, there might be moreof personal choice setting is that people chances to find previously unidentified
underestimate risks and are reluctant to risks. It can be an efficient way of
avoid risks, although being fully detecting risks.
Secondly, the whole process of
informed of them. This psychologicaltendency is called ‘unrealistic decision-making is recorded and opened
optimism.’ Because of this tendency, to the public. It can be reviewed andmore continuous and truthful alternative decisions be taken when it
communication efforts are necessary to becomes clear that the first decision
proved to be wrong. This situation islet people know and avoid risks.
One solution to this problem is to possible merely because of timeplan educational programs to properly constraints in the first decision-making
inform about risks using some process or because new scientificpersuasive techniques. An example of evidence is found and added.
them is fear-arousing appeal, whichcauses a strong emotional state of fear *Associate Professor, Keio University

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 1

page 4

Elementary school students discover the value of their town
From April to May of this year,
sixth grade students from Uehara
Elementary School, located close to
ICUS, have been exploring Uehara
town under the guidance of university
students mainly from Muramatsulaboratory, IIS. The title of this special
project is "We are the town explorers"
and has been carried out from the lastyear under the initiative of
Muramatsu Laboratory based on thepremise that it is necessary to startteaching early the importance ofpreserving our urban cultural
heritage, resources, etc.
The participants were divided inseven groups of five to six students

each of them with one university
student leader. Each group chose one
topic suggested by the leader, andexplored the neighborhood looking
for it. I was the leader of Team Red
and decided to search for the “townguardians” or elements that take careof several town aspects such as safety,
beauty, convenience, etc. I wanted thechildren to think about various town
elements and their interaction. During
our explorations we identified several
guardians based on many discussions.
Finally, we prepared our images andpresented them on June 2 at the IIS
Open House.
Because I have not been in contact
with young children for a long time, it
was a tough but exciting experience
for me. I discovered Uehara town andalso different aspects of children.
(By Mariko Abe, Graduate student,
Meguro Laboratory)

Uehara town “guardians”

ICUS joined IIS Open House
ICUS joined the Institute ofIndustrial Science Open House which
was held from June 1 to 3. In this event,
our institute is open to the public toshare with the visitors its researchoutcomes. This year ICUS topic was“Towards the Establishment of a
Sustainable Urban System.” As every
year, all laboratory members
participated and displayed their panels.
Topics varied in a wide range fromdiagnosis, repair, and strengthening of
concrete structures to diffusion ofcontaminants in urban areas. The
problem of formation of cavities andloose ground above old undergroundpipes, the need of disaster resilient water
cycle systems for sustainable societies,

and the challenge to integrate
countermeasures to achieve earthquake
disaster resilient urban systems werealso addressed. The open house wasalso an opportunity to introduce the2005 Annual Report as well as RNUS
activities. Reports and newsletters were
given away to visitors.
An ICUS Quiz was preparedfollowing the success of last year issue.
Twenty one questions were proposedand based on the number of correct
answers, ICUS calendars and pen cases
were offered as prizes. Almost 60
persons participated in the quiz and 25
calendars were distributed. This year it
was the first time that the open house
was held on a Saturday giving theopportunity to whole families to visit
our campus. Many children were
enthusiastic about the ICUS Quiz andput their parents under pressure to help
them get the correct answers.
(By P. Mayorca)

ICUS quiz drew attention of theopen house participants. In thephoto, three calendar awardees.

RNUS Activities
Inspection on Short Span Traffic
Bridges in Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration Area
The Regional Network Office for
Urban Safety (RNUS), in cooperation
with the Sirindhorn International

Students measuring concrete
strength using Smidth’s hammer

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 1

Institute of Technology (SIIT), launched
the infrastructure inspection program
for the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration Area (BMA).
The program started with theinspection of short-span concrete
bridges across canals in western
Bangkok. The inspection aimed atevaluating the condition of these bridges
regarding to its serviceability anddurability. Smidth’s hammer was used
to measure the structure strength while
the carbonation depth and reinforcing
bar corrosion were closely observed.
The inspection results will be used todetermine the required maintenanceand how to efficiently allocate theavailable budget. In addition, a groupof students from AIT and the SIIT joined
this activity as a part of their training.
(By R. Sahamitmongkol)

Structure deterioration wasinvestigated from a boat

page 5

Prof. Meguro promotes safer communities in Algeria and Pakistan
As a part of ICUS international
activities, Prof. Meguro visited Algeria
and Pakistan from March 17 to 26. The
Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) is carrying out a microzonation
study for the capital city Algiers and Prof.
Meguro is the chairperson of the advisorycommittee. The project objective is toprepare the basic data needed for theestablishment of a comprehensive
disaster management plan for Great
Algiers. On this occasion, Prof. Meguro
reported on the project progress andhelped outlining its next stage.
In Pakistan, Prof. Meguro visited
Muzaffarabad, the most affected region
during the 2005 Kashimir Earthquake.
During his first trip to the area last year,
he introduced the PP-band method toretrofit masonry structures. Due to thegreat interest that the techniquegenerated on the local people, JICA
decided to carry out a demonstration
project at the site. A typical house wasconstructed and then retrofitted with PPband meshes. The cost of the material
needed to retrofit one ordinary house
was US$30 and the total retrofitting

Shaking table demonstration carried out in Muzaffarabad, Pakistancost, including installation, was representatives, mass media people, andapproximately 5% of the total the general public and had a strong
construction cost. This value is expected impact on them. Before theto reduce as workers’ skill improves.
demonstration, Prof. Meguro explained
In order to effectively explain the the background and principles of PPbenefits of retrofitting, demonstrations band retrofitting and Mr. Amod M. Dixit,
for the public and decision makers are Executive Director of NSET, translated
powerful tools. The Nepalese NGO the presentation to the local language.
(By K. Meguro)
National Society for Earthquake
Technology (NSET) has been carryingout shaking table demonstrations in many
countries for this purpose and joined thisproject. Two 1/6 model replicating the fullsize house, one retrofitted and the othernon-retrofitted, were prepared andshaken. The non-retrofitted specimen
collapsed whereas the other stood. The
Pilot model constructed to show
demonstration was carried out in front on
PP-band retrofitting method
governmental authorities, NGO

ICUS members visited BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Prof. K. Meguro, Dr. M. Yoshimura,
Dr. H. Kanada, and Mr. K. Tsukimoto,graduate student of Meguro laboratory,
visited Bangladesh University ofEngineering & Technology (BUET)
from June 14 to 19, 2006.
On 14, ICUS signed the contract for
the establishment of the Bangladesh
Network Office for Urban Safety(BNUS) with the Department of Civil
Engineering, BUET. The new office will
open in September 2006.

measurements and introduction of nondestructive inspection (NDT) methods
for concrete structures, respectively. On
the afternoon of the second day, ademonstration using actual equipments
was performed for the participants.
Seminar organized by Bangladesh
Earthquake Society

Dr. Yoshimura explains how to
operate equipment

Ceremony participants
A short course on Evaluation ofConcrete Structures was held on 14-15,
Prof. Meguro, Dr. Yoshimura, and Dr.
Kanada delivered presentations on theimportance of earthquake disasterprevention, seismic vulnerability
assessment using microtremor

On 15, Prof. Meguro was invited asa guest speaker to the seminarorganized by the Engineer Staff College
Bangladesh and the Bangladesh
Earthquake Society. He introduced
recent developments of earthquake
related activities in Japan. After his
presentation, Bangladeshi engineers
asked many questions on how to adopt
these technologies to their country.
From 16 to 19, many structures

Investigation of bar arrangementof RC slab using NDT equipment(BUET facilities, fire stations andbuildings under construction) weresurveyed with BUET members. Dr.
Yoshimura and Mr. Tsukimoto measured
their dynamic properties using
microtremor measurement equipment
and Dr. Kanada investigated rebar
arrangement using NDT equipments.
(By H. Kanada)

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 1

page 6

Dr. Tan visited ICUS under JSPS Scientific Exchange Program 2006
Dr. Kiang Hwee Tan, Associate
Professor in the Department of Civil
Engineering at the National Universityof Singapore (NUS), visited ICUS
from 10 to 24 June 2006, under the
JSPS Scientific Exchange Program.
The visit is a significant step towards
further academic exchange andcooperation between the two
institutions, which signed amemorandum of understanding on
joint research in March 2005.
Dr. Tan obtained his doctorate
degree from the University of Tokyo in
1985. He has carried out research on
beams with openings, fiber-reinforced
concrete and ferrocement, external
post-tensioning, and fiber-reinforced
polymer reinforcement. He has
published more than 150 refereed
papers and a book on “Beams with
Openings: Analysis & Design.” Dr.
Tan is a member of theeditorial/advisory board for six
international journals, including ASCE
Jour nal of Composites forConstruction (USA), JCI Journal ofAdvanced Concrete Technology(Japan), and ICE Structures &Buildings Journal (UK). He is also theVice-Chairman (Technical) for theInternational Committee for Concrete
Model Code for Asia. He was theorganizing chair for the Sixth
International Symposium on FRP

Reinforcement for Concrete Structures(FRPRCS-6), held in Singapore in
July 2003.
During his visit, Dr. Tan gave alecture on “Rational Approaches to
Structural Strengthening.” In thelecture, he explained the use of strutand-tie models and strip method forbeam and slab strengthening using
f iber-reinforced polymer (FRP)
systems, and illustrated them with tests
on dapped beams, beams with recess
or opening, and slabs with an opening.
Dr. Tan discussed the use of the loadbalancing method in structural
strengthening using external tendons
for both simple-span and continuous
RC beams. It was evident that theseapproaches that are based on principleof statics are versatile and safe forapplication, especially for complex
structures.
Dr. Tan shared his other research

Dr. Tan receives certificate fromProf. Uomoto after delivering a
lecture at ICUS

interests with researchers at ICUS. He
is currently doing research on blast
resistance of masonry and reinforced
concrete walls, sprayed polymer andsprayed FRP, and fire-resistance of
FRP systems and FRP-strengthened
beams. He was impressed with thetest facilities at ICUS, especially thewind tunnel and the tri-axial shake
table, and with the work carried out at
ICUS, in particular on the use ofpolypropylene bands as a cheap
strengthening material. He hopes toinitiate joint research in these areas
with ICUS, and looks forward to
ICUS researchers visiting his
department at NUS in the near future.
Dr. Tan also visited threeconstruction sites dealing with FRP
strengthening and tunnel boring, andhad discussion with researchers fromthe research institutes of Kajima
Cor poration and Obayashi
Corporation. He also met members of
the Association for Advanced
Composite Technology on
Construction Field (ACC) andInformation Technology Building
System (ITBS) Group. He is grateful
to his host, Prof. T. Uomoto, and his
staff for the arrangement and formaking his visit a memorable andfruitful one.
(By K. H. Tan,
ICUS Network member)Prof. Hayashi left ICUS after two-year appointment
After holding the position ofVisiting Professor at ICUS, Prof.
S h ogoHayashi,fo r m e r
Commissioner of the Fire Disaster
Prevention Agency, retired from ourcenter this June. Recently, he wasappointed Vice-Minister of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs andC o m m u n i c a t i o n s , Ja p a n e s eGovernment. During his stay, helectured at the course entitled Fire
Defense and Disaster Prevention
Administration and Techniques ofDisaster Prevention given during
the Summer Semester at the
G ra d u a t e S ch o o l o f C i v i lEngineering, the University ofTokyo. He focused on fire disastermanagement, particularly on theimportance of efficient personnel
management. He also led visits to the“Fire Research Institute” and the“Fire Defense College”.
Prof. Hayashi participated in the
preparation of a website to promotes e i s m i c re t ro f i t t i n g o f p u bl i cbuildings. The site compiles andpresents information related toseismic activity in Japan, importanceof structure retrofitting, available
vulnerability evaluation methods,
and recommended retrof itting
alternatives. It also includes ad a t ab a s e o f p a s t re t ro f i t t i n g
e x a m p l e s , c o m p a ny n a m e s ,construction costs and duration of
the required works. The website is
h o s t e d a t t h e Fi re D i s a s t e rManagement Agency webpage.
Prof. Hayashi gave speeches at
the 8th Open Lecture and the 31st
Seiken Evening Seminar. We would
like to thank very much Prof.
Hayashi for his fruitful stay andgreat contributions to our center.
(By K. Meguro)

ICUS PARTICIPATION – IIS OPEN HOUSE

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 1

Prof. Hayashi delivered several
lectures during his stay at ICUS

page 7

Two new members joined ICUS
We would like to welcome warmly
Drs. Reiko Kuwano and Paola
Mayorca who joined ICUS on April
1st, 2006 as Associate Professor andProject Research Associate,
respectively.
Dr. Kuwano, formerly a seniorresearcher in the Public Works
Research Institute, received her
Master degree from the Department
of Civil Engineering at the
University of Tokyo in 1988. Aftershe gained practical work experiencein a construction company for someyears, she obtained her PhD from theImperial College, London University
in 1999. Her research interest isgeotechnical engineering, including
characterization of mechanicalbehaviour of geomaterials, longterm behaviour of undergroundstr uctures, remediation ofcontaminated ground, etc.
D r. M ay o r c a g o t h e r
undergraduate degree from thePontifical Catholic University of Peru
in 1994 and worked as a structural
engineer in Peru for three years. In
2000, she got her Master Degree andin 2003 she got her PhD both fromthe Department of Civil Engineering
at the University of Tokyo. She has
been working on the development ofretrofitting techniques to improve theseismic performance of unreinforced
masonry structures with particularfocus on housing in developing
countries. In her PhD dissertation,
she investigated experimentally andnumerically the use of PP-bands,
which are commonly used for
packing, as a feasible method toprevent collapse of masonry houses
during earthquakes and reduce
fatalities in future seismic events.
(By T. Uomoto)

Dr. Reiko Kuwano

Dr. Paola Mayorca

ICUS Activities
and Denmark (June 11-18), and the• Prof. Meguro attended the 100th
2006 ASHRAE Annual Meeting in
Anniversary Earthquake ConferenceQuebec, Canada (June 24-29).
commemorating the 1906 San
Francisco Earthquake, which was • Dr. Kato stayed at AIT for his research
work and teaching duties at RNUS
held at San Francisco, US, together(April 17-May 17, June 21-July 7).
with Drs. Yoshimura and Mayorca
He participated in Concrete Solutions(April 16-23).
2006, 2nd International Conference• Prof. Meguro, Dr. Yoshimura, and Dr.
on Concrete Repair at St. Malo,
Kanada visited BUET, Dhaka,
France (June 26-July 1).
Bangladesh (April 13 - 20).
• Dr. Oki attended the Hydrology 2020 • Dr. Sahamitmongkol stayed at AIT for
his research work and teaching duties
Conference in Delft, Holland (Juneat RNUS (April 10-May 29, June 927-July 1).
July 5). He joined the 11th National• Dr. Ooka participated in the 10th
Convention on Civil Engineering at
International Conference on Thermal
Phuket, Tailand (April 20-23).
Energy Storage at the Richard
Stockton College of New Jersey, in • The RC-39 Committee met on May 23.
After each working group reported on
Philadelphia, US (May 30-June 4),
their activities, Prof. Tachibana, Prof.
the 6th International Conference on
Emeritus of the University of Tokyo,
Urban Climate at the Technicalgave the presentation entitled
University of Denmark in Sweden“Estimation of current traffic noise
conditions”• ICUS Student seminar was held on
May 30. Students from all ICUS
related laboratories participatedand gave presentations.
• ICUS Open House was held
together with IIS Open Houseduring June 1-3.
• Metropolitan Highway Watching
was held on June 9.
• Prof. Tan visited ICUS (June 10-24)
supported by the Japan Society for
Promotion of Science ScientificExchange Program 2006.
• ICUS seminar, in which Prof. Tandelivered the lecture: “Rational
approaches to Structural
Strengthening,” was held on June 19.

AwardsSociety” for his paper “Application of• Dr. Kato received the “Incentive
Near-infrared Spectroscopy forAward” from the “Japan Concrete
Inspection of Concrete.”
Society” for his paper “Study of a
Method for Deciding the Inspection • Drs. Ema Kato, Kato, and Prof.
Uomoto received the “Best Paper
Program to Assess the Risk ofAward” from the “Japan Concrete
Material Heterogeneity andSociety” for their paper “Development
Uncertainties.”of Simulation Model of Chloride Ion• Dr. Kanada received the “Incentive
Transportation in Cracked Concrete.”Award” from the “Japan Concrete• Prof. Meguro received the“Excellent Paper Award” from the“Japanese Geotechnical Society”
for his paper “What I have been
thinking for the last 10 years sincethe 1995 Kobe Earthquake.”

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 1

page 8
Editor’s NoteOn April 27, 2006 a magnitude
6.3 earthquake hit Java, Indonesia
killing nearly 5,800 people andinjuring almost 38,000. We would
like to convey our deepest
condolences to the affected
population. What makes this event
even sadder is that most of thecasualties and destruction could
have been prevented.
Reportedly, the seismic strengthof the houses in the stricken area
was very low which translated into
more than 350,000 dwellings
damaged beyond usability. If thesestructures would have been
sufficiently strong, most of thefatalities could have been
prevented. Furthermore, theresources needed for reconstruction
could have been smaller. This tragic
event reminded us of similar
situations faced at Gujurat (India,
2001), Bam (Iran, 2003), andKashmir (Pakistan-India, 2005).
The Java Earthquake put on the
spotlight again the issue of existing
low earthquake resistant masonryhouses. Because 60% of the world’s
population lives in this type of

A devastating earthquake
hit Java, Indonesia on
April 27 2006 showing
again the urgent need tostrengthen the existing
low earthquake resistanthousing stock(Photo by Masasuke
Takashima, ICUS
network member)structures, even in earthquake prone
regions, future earthquakes will have
similar devastating consequences. It
also exposed our failure, as
earthquake experts, to communicate
risk to the general public as
discussed by Dr. Kikkawa in thisNewsletter edition. These problems
should be tackled with two
approaches: technical and social.
The f irst one means that any
proposed retrofitting method should
consider local availability,
applicability, and acceptability. At
my research group we arerecommending the use of
Polypropylene band (PP-band)meshes for retrofitting because thematerial is locally available at a very low
price and the installation process is very
simple and can be carried out by thehouse owners. We have performed

several shaking table tests and confirmed
the excellent behavior of structures
retrofitted by PP-band meshes.
A viable technical solution alone
is not enough to solve the problem ofexisting weak structures. It shouldcome together with a social program
which encourages its implementation.
This program should focus on raising
seismic risk awareness among the
population with adequate risk
communication tools coupled with
policies to promote reinforcement
through incentives. We are also
working on this type of schemes at mylaboratory. If you would like more
information on PP-band retrofitting
method or our proposed social system
to foster retrofitting, please do nothesitate to contact us at
ppmethod@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
(By K. Meguro)

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International Center for Urban Safety Engineering, ICUS
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Tel: (+81-3)5452-6472, Fax: (+81-3)5452-6476
E-mail: icus@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
http://icus.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

International Center for
Urban Safety Engineering

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