ICUS NEWSLETTER

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering
Institute of Industrial Science
The University of Tokyo

VOLUME 10 NUMBER 4
JANUARY-MARCH 2011

EASTERN JAPAN STRUCK BY MAGNITUDE 9.0
EARTHQUAKE AND MASSIVE TSUNAMI
By
Kimiro Meguro1
On March 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm
Japan standard time, a magnitude
9.0 earthquake struck off theeastern coast of Honshu, Japan’s
main island, approximately 129
kilometers east of Sendai. This
earthquake triggered a massive
tsunami, which inundated theeastern Pacific seaboard of Japan
with waves up to tens of meters
high. The Tohoku region was hit
the hardest, particularly the coastal
areas of Iwate, Tochigi, Fukushima,and Ibaraki prefectures. As of thetime of this newsletter’s publication,
more than 23,000 people areconfirmed dead or missing.
At this time, ICUS is preparing
a special-edition ICUS Newsletterto help disseminate important data
about the earthquake, tsunami,
and its aftermath, along withreconstruction efforts, and we hopeto publish it soon.
Director, Professor, ICUS

1

Scenes of damage from the Tohoku area

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Page 2Distribution of tsunami danger(source: Japan Meteorological Agency)

Distribution of seismic intensity(source: Japan Meteorological Agency)

4-story steel building toppled by the tsunami
in Onagawa City, Miyagi Prefecture

Tsunami damage to 5-story concrete RC apartmentbuilding in Rikuzentakada City, Iwate Prefecture

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Concrete bridge swept away by thetsunami in Rikuzentakada City,
Iwate Prefecture

Fire-damaged structures in the waterfront areaof Minami-sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture

Page 3

Pancake-type failure of a buildingin Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture

Tsunami damage and debris at Sendai Airport,
Miyagi Prefecture

Convenience stores in Tokyo were sold out
of food the night of the earthquake

Huge traffic jams filled the streets of Tokyo
as stranded people tried to get home

ICUS and IIS researchers establish 3.11net Tokyo
for disaster-related information collection and dissemination
The
Great
East
Japan
Earthquake had a devastating
impact on both the public andresearch community in Japan.
In order to support recovery andreconstruction in disaster-affectedareas from the perspective ofuniversity researchers, several
researchers at the Institute ofIndustrial Science (IIS), theUniversity of Tokyo have built avoluntary group called “3.11net
Tokyo.” The main activities ofthis group are to collect andtransfer information on various
activities related to the academic
society, to distribute informationon the earthquake, its aftermath,Gathering of ICUS and IIS researchers at a morning meeting

and recovery and reconstruction
activities, and to take care offoreign researchers. Meetings are
regularly held three times a week
in the ICUS Lecture Room forsharing information about support
activities, field surveys, briefing
sessions and so on.
“3.11net
Tokyo”
collects
documents on this earthquake
and its aftermath, and manages
an environment for browsing
documents and report activities
at the clearing house and througha webpage, especially academic
survey findings, newspapers andbooks. The URL is: http://icus.
iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/rnet_edr/(by S. Kondo)

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Page 4

Risk management of cultural heritage in Kyoto
A FORGOTTEN
POINT OF VIEW
The Cultural Assets Preservation
Act was established in 1950,
one year after the Kondo Mural
Painting at Horyuji Temple wasdestroyed by fire. Since then,thanks to continuous effect by thecentral and local government andthe cultural heritage community,
Japan has achieved significant andbrilliant results in cultural heritage
preservation. These wide-ranging
results include the prevention andmitigation of age-induced changes
to cultural heritage, the excavationand examination of buried cultural
assets, and protecting cultural
heritage from fire.
This is not to say, however, that
there has been enough done inpreparing for natural disaster. Many
treasures have been lost due tonatural disasters – for example thedamage of the stage on the sea at
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine during
Typhoon No. 18 in September 2004,or the damage to the five-story
pagoda at Murouji Temple from afallen tree in September 1998.
The field of cultural property
protection is wide and varied, withthe problem of natural disaster alone

having been overlooked. Experts
in the field of cultural property
preservation recognize the need tofocus on this problem in the future,but have not worked together
to tackle the problems inherent
in protecting cultural properties
fromdisaster.
Safeguarding
against natural disaster has also
been neglected among culturalproperty preservationists. Since
cultural properties and assets
are irreplaceable, they should beviewed from a different perspective
than other assets.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
In the Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake of 1995 Kyoto wasshaken by seismic intensity 5,
but damage was relatively slight.
Kyoto is located some 50 to 60
kilometers away from Kobe, so if
an earthquake were to strike closer
to Kyoto, it is not hard to imagine
that many more temples andshrines would be damaged. Thereis not only a lack of equipment andfacilities to combat earthquakeinduced fires, but also a shortageof reserve water. Without enoughwater reserves, fires in surrounding
areas will not be prevented fromProtection of cultural heritage from natural disaster

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

spreading to the precincts of temples
and shrines. This is exacerbated bysuch problems as the lack of quakeresistant water cannon pumps andpower-generating equipment at
temples and shrines. The biggest
problem is that these measures forcontaining the spread of fire are notconsidered.

INCREASE IN FIRE RISK
Kyoto has one of the lowest rates
of fire outbreak among large cities
in Japan. This is probably due to thevisceral sense of potential danger
among the citizenry of Kyoto,
which contains many old woodenbuildings. However, a low rate offire outbreak and high resistance tofire are two different things. Since
there are many old buildings, if afire were to break out, it would bevery difficult to extinguish.
Just one hundred years ago Kyoto’s
population lived in a smaller area,with most of the city as farmland.
Today the entire Kyoto basin iscovered with residential buildings
from every corner to corner, andthe populated area expanded aboutfive-fold in one century. Since
this densely-populated area iscovered with flammable material,
if multiple fires were to break out
there simultaneously, many nationaltreasures would definitely be lost.
Furthermore, reconstruction ofsuch treasures is very difficult incurrent times due to the loss ofpolitical power and reduced support
from private individuals. If many
properties were lost to a fire, theywould not be rebuilt as they were in
the past.

Page 5ACTIVE SEISMIC PERIOD
There were only two earthquakesof magnitude 6 or greater in the
Kinki Region during the forty
years between the Fukui andGreat Hanshin-Awaji Earthquakes.
However, during the fifty years
between 1900 and the Nankai
Earthquake of 1949, there weremore than thirteen earthquakes ofa magnitude of 6 or greater in the
Kinki region alone, with all of themcoming during the short period
between 1925 and 1943. History
shows that the Tokai, Tohnankai,and Nankai Earthquakes along the
Nankai Trough recur over cycles of
100 to 120 years, so earthquakes inthese regions should be looked atin terms of a hundred years. From
this point of view, it can be said that
we are in an active period like theone that began in 1925, this time
starting with the 1995 South Hyogo
Prefecture (Kobe) Earthquake.

“LIFE INSURANCE”
FOR KYOTO
Some 47 million tourists flock to
Kyoto each year. Since they cometo see the historic buildings andcultural properties at the temples
and shrines, the loss of these assets
would hurt Kyoto terribly, andthe number of people who visit
would drop drastically. If cultural
assets determine the fate of Kyoto,
shouldn’t it have an insurance policy
to protect itself? Such insurance is
to be found in disaster prevention
measures. At the present time,
however, Kyoto’s cultural assets do
not seem to be sufficiently insured.

WHAT MUST BE DONE
The importance of cultural heritage
disaster mitigation is recognized byCycle of collaboration towards disaster countermeasures
the national government and somelocal governments. The city of
Kyoto, with its wealth of culturalproperties, has for the past several
years expressed concern over theseissues. Determined to maintain its
historical ambience, the city has
set up a committee to find a way
to create a water supply system
for use in disaster prevention
efforts. Meanwhile, the Society forProtecting Cultural Assets from
Disaster, an NPO, has been active
for thirteen or fourteen years, thoughformerly as a different organization.
At the request of the national
government, the society, Kiyomizu
Temple and local citizens havecollaborated to formulate specificdisaster prevention measures forKiyomizu Temple, Sanneizaka,and the surrounding area. The
implementation of cultural heritage
disaster
mitigation
measuresrequires not only the cooperation ofcustodians of cultural properties but
also a specific plan that is acceptable
to local citizens.

THE WORK HAS BEGUN
While paying due attention tohistorical ambience, the Society
for Protecting Cultural Assets
from Disaster has also exploredthe particulars of a water supply
system for use in disaster mitigation
efforts. The NPO formed a Study
Group for Maintaining a Disaster
Mitigation Water Supply System,
and crafted a plan thereof withcooperation from the temples, local
government, and Kyoto City Fire
Department. Through workshops
and discussions they developed aproposal to dig a tunnel (to avoid
blemishing the landscape) throughthe mountains of Higashiyama
for storing water, and to installfire hydrants and a water sprinkler
system. Funding for the first phaseof this project was approved in
2006, and is the first national projectfor protecting cultural assets against
natural disaster. The focus of the
project is a 1,500-ton undergroundwater storage tank beneath the“disaster-prevention park” which
will be used not only for fighting
fires during after big earthquakes
but also as easy-to-operate fire
hydrants for other fires as well.
(by Kenzo Toki,
Professor and Director,
Research Center
for Disaster Mitigationof Urban Cultural Heritage,
Ritsumeikan University)

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Page 62011 Christchurch Earthquake – quick report from the field
An earthquake of magnitude 6.3
centered some 10 kilometers fromdowntown Christchurch occurredat 12:51 on Feb. 22, 2011. The
shallow earthquake occurred at a
depth of 5 kilometers and caused
more damage in the Christchurch
CBD (Central Business District)than the 2010 Darfield (Canterbury)
earthquake of magnitude 7.1,
which occurred 5 months prior tothis event. As of March 18, thedeath toll reportedly reachedaround 180.
Some earthquake records showthatbuildings
may
have
experienced severe shaking morethan double the current code
requirements in New Zealand. The
buildings designed according to
the current seismic codes, however,
performed well, with a few
exceptions such as a 17-story
modern RC building, in which its
staircases collapsed.
In New Zealand, ductility was
not explicitly required for nonresidential buildings designed
before 1976, and much improvement
was made in the design standard
for RC buildings in the early 1980’s
to eliminate brittle behaviors andto ensure the strong column andweak beam system. It should be
noted that many buildings designed
before the early 1980’s may haveexperienced shaking exceeding thecode requirements but many ofthem had minimal structural
damage.
The most serious building
damage was found in pre-1970’s
RC buildings which had survived
the 2010 Darfield earthquake.
Some of them had total collapse
and/or severe shear failure incolumns.
URM (unreinforced masonry)buildings within the CBD weresignificantly damaged, just as they
had been during the 2010 Darfield
earthquake. Several buildings
recently seismically upgraded alsocollapsed,
includingtheChristchurch Cathedral. URM
buildings that were temporarily
shored or retrofitted after the 2010
Darfield earthquake showed awide variety of responses: some
performed successfully but someothers partially or totallycollapsed.
In addition to the shakinginduced damage, much damage
due to soil liquefaction was found.
The suburbs had more significant
soil liquefaction than the downtown
district, and the northern andeastern suburbs along or close to
the Avon River had the most serious
damage.
Building
safetyevaluationaccording to the Civil Defense/
City Council Building Safety
Evaluation Operations was madeby structural engineers to assess

the buildings’ safety for reoccupation or temporary re-entry.
As of March 18, 826 buildings(23%) were red tagged, 862
buildings (24%) yellow tagged,
and 1933 buildings (53%) green
tagged [1].

Severely damaged
pre-1970’s RC building

A URM building
with temporary shoring survived

Briefing of structural engineers
for building evaluation

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

[1] W. Y. Kam, U. Akguzel, and
S. Pampanin: “4 Weeks on:
Preliminary
Reconnaissance
Report from the Christchurch 22
Feb. 2011 6.3 Mw Earthquake,”
WEB at NZSEE Clearinghouse.
Acknowledgement: This fieldsurvey was made under the AIJJAEE joint reconnaissance led by
Prof. S. Kono of Kyoto University
with cooperation from Prof. S.
Pampanin, Dr. W. Y. Kam, and Dr.
U Akguzel of the University ofCanterbury. The author gratefully
appreciates their support.
(by Yoshiaki Nakano,Prpf. IIS, The University ofTokyo)

Massive liquefaction at Bexley

Page 7

Seminar on “Current Seismology and
Related Urban Safety Engineering Researches in Mongolia”
At the invitation of Prof. K.
Meguro, Director of ICUS, threescholars from Mongolia visited
ICUS on 20 January and held aseminar on “Current Seismology
and Related Urban Safety
Engineering
Researchesin
Mongolia.” The visitors were: Prof.
Dr. S. Demberel, Scientific
Secretary, Research Center of
Astronomy & Geophysics (RCAG),
Mongolian Academy of Sciences(MAS), Dr. M. Ulziibat, Head of
Seismological Department, RCAG,
MAS, and Dr. E. Ninjgarav,
Associate professor of GeotechnicalEngineering, Vice Director of the
School of Civil Engineering andArchitecture, Mongolian Universityof Science and Technology(MUST).
In recent years, seismic activities
have been increasingly observed
near and within Ulaanbaatar area,
the capital city of Mongolia where
nearly one-third of the total
population is concentrated. Twotimes as many earthquakes wererecorded during the last five years(2005-2010) as between 1970 and
2004, and more than 1600 events,
having a magnitude between 0.5 to
4.2 are caused mainly due to two
major active structures: NS Emeelt
and EW Hustai active faults. Also,with the mining boom, there are

increasing numbers of newly built
high rise buildings in the city,
thereby creating an amount of newconcerns among the society on thesafety of old and new buildings
against seismic hazard.
Against these backgrounds,
urban disaster reduction has
become one of the priority policy
areas of the government ofMongolia, and the government has
been showing its willingness tocooperatewith
foreigngovernments, including Japan. In
November 2010, when the
President of Mongolia paid anofficial visit to Japan, the two
governments issued a jointstatement that touched upon,among others, importance ofenhanced bilateral cooperation in
the area of disaster prevention/
reduction. The seminar, held at
ICUS this time, therefore, wasquite timely to follow up theserecent moves.
Dr. Demberel talked about
historicaldevelopmentofseismology in Mongolia since theSoviet time, introduced current
activities of RCAG, MAS, andtouched upon lots of tasks ahead
from now on. Dr. Ulziibat
introduced recent research resultsin the context of seismic hazard
assessment of Ulaanbaatar area.

Visiting the Public Works Research InstituteDr.
Ninjgaravpresented
geotechnical features of Mongoliansoil properties, and said that 61 %of the ground surface is within thesemi permafrost region. Dr.
Demberel also expressed his hopes
for the strengthened cooperation
between Mongolia and Japan.
The seminar was also attended
by Prof. Y. Nakano, who presented
some salient features of earth quake
engineering researches in Japan, as
well as Prof. K. Meguro, who
introduced ways of improving
seismic performance of weak brickand masonry structures using PPband method.
Prior to the seminar, threescholars also paid a visit to relevantJapanese institutions such as
Disasters Reduction and Human
Renovation Institution, Asian
Disaster Reduction Center (both inKobe), Nojima Faults Preservation
Musium (in Awaji-shima), National
Research Institute for Earth Scienceand Disaster Prevention, Public
Works Research Institute (both inTsukuba), Earthquake ResearchInstitute of the University of Tokyo,
Life Safety Learning Center ofTokyo Fire Department, and Tokyo
Metropolitan
Gov.
DisasterPrevention Center.
(by Y. Ichihashi)

The Mongolian delegation with Prof. Meguro

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Page 8

Symposium on forefront and challenges ofwater resources management in Bangkok, Thailand
On January 29, 2011, a half-day
symposium on the “Forefront andChallenges of Water Resources
Management in Southeast Asia,”organized by ICUS, the Regional
Network Office for Urban Safety(RNUS), Asian Institute ofTechnology (AIT), and Chula
Uniseach, Chulalongkorn University, was held at the Novotel
Bangkok Fenix Ploenchit Hotel.
Six distinguished speakers in thefield of water resources management from the academic field andgovernment in Thailand and the
USA gave excellent presentations
as follows (order of presentation):- Mekong sub-regional framework:
opportunities and challenges(Ms. Manitkul, Thai Ministry ofForeign Affairs)- Vulnerability assessment offreshwater resources in the
Mekong River basin (Dr. Babel,
AIT)- Integrating
community water planning with
provincial development planby area based information
system (Dr. Koontanakulvong,
Chulalongkorn University)- Water resources management in
MRC & Thailand’s perspectives
on MRC’s role (Mr. Siripornpibul,
Thai Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment)- Who’s river is it anyhow? Some
issues regarding transboundary
development on the MekongRiver basin (Prof. Rogers,
Harvard University)- Challenges to benefit sharing in
the Mekong River basin (Prof.
Ogden, Northeastern University)
Following the presentation
session, a panel discussion withthe six presenters was chaired by

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Dr. A. Kawasaki. Many interestingand sharp questions came from thefloor, especially about the impact
of upstream Chinese dams onlower Mekong River basins.
Because historical drought andflood happened recent years in theLower Mekong, some people blame
China for causing such problems
in the Mekong. The reply from thepanel member was as follows:“Upstream Chinese dams might
have actually affected draught andflooding in the Lower Mekong, but
nobody knows because Chinese
dam operation information is notopen. At the same time, however,rapid changes in human activities
such as population increase,
deforestation, and land development in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia
and Vietnam also largely affected
the water flow in the Lower Mekongbasin.” Many questions andcomments were raised during thepanel discussion, but discussion
had to close due to running out oftime.
About 180 participants joined
the symposium: 53% fromuniversity; 27% from government;
and 20% from private sector andother. Although the announcementof this symposium was just two
weeks before the symposium, theapplication exceeded 200 in just
10 days, so we had to decline
applications starting several days
before the symposium. This
demonstrates Thailand’s highdegree of interest in water
resources management.
(by A. Kawasaki)

Panel discussion with the six presenters

Participants at the symposium

Page 9

BNUS Activities
FIRE FIGHTING AND
HAZARDOUS FIRE
LEGISLATION WORKSHOP
A workshop on “Fundamental
Concepts of Fire Fighting and
FormulationofLegislation
Regarding Hazardous Fire” washeld on January 20, 2011, at the
ITN Center, Bangladesh Universityof Engineering and Technology.
This day-long workshop wasorganized by BUET-JIDPUS(Japan Institute of Disaster
Prevention and Urban Safety). The
workshop was divided into two
sessions with two experts who gave
lectures on different issues
regarding the basic concepts of fire
hazard, fire fighting systems, design
standards, standard rules, andregulation and law practiced in
Bangladesh. The main lecturer wasarchitect
Tajuddin
Ahmed
Chowdhury and Dr. Md. Maksud
Helali, professor of the MechanicalEngineering Department, BUET.
Forty participants took part in thisworkshopfromdifferent
professional groups, including a
research planner from BNUS,
Sharmin Ara. The contents of theworkshop were particularly helpful
for the fire fighters of the Fire
Service and Civil Defense(FSCD).
MICROTREMOR H/V
TECHNIQUE FOR SITERESPONSE ANALYSISThe amplitude ratio (H/V) of
horizontal to vertical spectra has
become popular to determine thepredominantperiodandamplification of a site. It is wellknown that the degree of damage
duringearthquakes
strongly
depends on dynamic characteristics
of buildings as well as amplification

Velocity time history along three directions

Three segments of Fourier amplitude and average values

H/V spectral ratioof seismic waves. Among the othertime consuming and expensive
approaches, microtremor is theeasiest and cheapest way tounderstandthedynamic
characteristics of soil as well as
structural element. In a short periodof time it provides several
information including natural
frequency and amplification andvibration characteristics of soil andstructure at different frequencies.
Microtremor data recordings
have been carried ouat in 132
locations in Dhaka City. Each
record comprises three components:
east-west, north-south, and updown. For spectral analysis threenoise-free portions of 20.48
seconds have been taken at 100
hertz instrumental sampling. For
checking the stability of soil
response using microtremor at eachpoint of sensor location microtremor
data recordings have been executedat different times of the day.
The results show that the rangesof predominant frequency in BUET
area are between 0.30 and 6.5 Hz,
and Horizontal to Vertical spectral
Ratio (H/V) ranges between 1.0
and 6.5. In some locations of theobservation point the H/V ratio
obtained was very flat. In otherlocations the result was very clear
predominant peaks. For the stability
analysis of microtremor thirteen
selected points show that H/Vratios are very stable. In general,the long period or low frequency
zone corresponds to the soft soil
zone, with shorter period or highfrequency in the hard and middle
soil zones. In some places, long
periods or low frequency have been
detected in the hard soil zone, thisbeing due to local artificial deposits
caused by compacting the soil.
(by M.A. Ansary, BNUS)

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Page 10

RC62 Committee Activities
The
performanceof
infrastructures
necessary
tosupport our lives deteriorates
due to changes in requiredfeatures and aging. Traditionally,evaluation of structures has been
tried utilizing various measuring
techniques. However, technology
which can appropriately evaluate
structural performance has notbeen established. In addition,techniques for evaluating theperformance of the entire structure
considering both the structure andthe ground have not been studied.
From
this
background,the “Research committee on
evaluation technology of theperformance degradation due
to aging infrastructure” (RC-62) started over three years
ago in April 2008, and we haveconducted quantitative techniquesto evaluate the performanceof concrete and soil structures
and technical investigations toevaluate the performance of theentire structure to encompass the
structure from the ground.
In the first year, we organizedexisting technologies of themeasurement and evaluation
on each field such as concreteand soil structures, etc., anddiscussed the direction of futuretechnologies. Next, as a concrete
example, we selected a box
culvert structure in the earth withreinforced soil walls (Terre Armee)
and we examined structuraldeformation due to changes inground conditions. Based on theseresults, we proposed a techniquefor monitoring or measuring
the deformation expected. For
the reinforced earth wall, we
tried to assess the soundnessof reinforcement in the groundusing field tests with acoustic
shockwave. This series of study
results are summarized in a final
report published in March 2011.
Although this study is limited,
continued work is required for
effective and efficient maintenanceof infrastructures.
(by Kenji Hayakawa,
Tokyu Construction Co., Ltd.

RC67 Committee Activities
The “Research Committee on
Evaluation of CSR Activities
in Environmental Conscious
Society” (RC67) has continued
to work for two years in order tocreate a guideline for CSR activity
about forests. Specifically, overthe first year we investigatedand analyzed the CSR activities
of private Japanese companies
which have responsibilities related
to environmental issues. Then,
during the second year we focusedon hearing from the voices of thoseactually in charge of CSR activities
through hearings and interviews
with leading companies.
At the end of March 2011, we
published our conclusions as the“ICUS Committee Report 201002.” In this report, we proposed

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

the guidelines and an evaluation
form for improving the quality ofcurrent CSR activities. Following
is a brief summary of the reported
guideline and evaluation form.
The results of the interview
indicate that the scale, continuity,
PDCA(plan-do-check-act),
environmental
educations,contributions to local community,
support of forest management,
soil and water conservation andbiodiversity are all needed forevaluation of CSR activities.
The evaluation form was createdbased on this result. Moreover,
we concluded that four functionsof CSR activities are needed
to improve the quality of CSR
activities through analysis of
the evaluation forms. Importantfunctions are: 1) CSR activities
should support sustainable forest
industry, 2) CSR activities should
be close to the core business,3) experts should contribute to
private CSR activities, and 4) CSR
activities should collaborate withother CSR activities. We would
also like to add that sustainable
use of wood is one type of CSR
activity. Finally, RC67 hopesthat the report will contribute
positively to CSR activities. If you
want to know more about theseresults, please refer to the “ICUS
Committee Report 2010-02”(available in Japanese language
only).
(by T. Endo)Page 11

Report on LiDAR research in Korea
LiDAR (Light detection andranging) is one type of remotesensing instrument which measuresterrain surface and 3-dimensional
structures. South Korea actually
has more LiDAR instruments thanJapan despite the area of Korea
being roughly just one-quarter thesize of Japan.
To investigate the status of
current LiDAR research in South
Korea, I stayed in Pusan for twomonths from December 1, 2010
to January 31, 2011. The researchcounterparts during my stay were
Prof. Yong Cheol Suh, Prof. Chul
Uong Choi, and Dr. Yang Won Lee
in the geoinformatic engineeringgroup at the Pukyong National
University, who helped me collectdomestic papers on LiDAR
research written in Korea.
I found that the amount of LiDAR

research increased rapidly from2005, and has continued to increase
until now. The major research fieldin LiDAR application was related
to civil engineering applications,such as extraction of building andterrain shapes. There was little
environment-related
research,however, in contrast to Japan.
Environmental research using
LiDAR may become more popularin the future in South Korea, andI hope that Japan and South Korea
will tackle these issues together inthe future.
Acknowledgement: Funding forthis research was provided by the“Global Center of Excellence for
Sustainable Urban Regeneration.”(by T. Endo)

Number of Korean domestic LiDAR research papers

ICUS Activities● Prof. K. Meguro traveled to
Bangkok, Thailand, from Feb. 4
to 7 for a lecture on earthquake
preparedness.
● Prof. Sawada visited Thailand
from Jan. 5 to 11 for a meetingand investigation on forests in
the Mekong region.
● Prof. Sawada also attended ameeting in Laos from Feb. 3
to 9 for a meeting related toforest management and natural
disasters.
● Dr. R. Kuwano attended the
5th International Conferenceon Earthquake GeotechnicalEngineering from Jan. 8 to 17
in Santiago, Chile.
● Dr. T. Kato visited Chengdu,
Sichuan, China from March 7
to 12 for an investigation.
● Dr. A. Kawasaki traveled to

Kunming and Jinghong, China,
Vientiane, Laos, and Phnom
Penh, Cambodia, from Jan. 1 to
13 for research investigation.
● Dr. A. Kawasaki also visited
Amsterdam, Holland, andLondon, England, from March
10 to 19 to share his researchworks.

Awards● Mr. M. Hosoo, master student
in Kuwano Laboratory, won
the Furuichi Award from theDept. of Civil Engineering,
the University of Tokyo, for
his excellent master research

entitled “Study on healing
capability of bio-cemented
sandy soil.”● Ms. M. Sato, master student
in Kuwano Laboratory, also
won the Furuichi Award fromthe Dept. of Civil Engineering,
the University of Tokyo, forher excellent master research
entitled “Effects of undergroundstructures on expansion of
subsurface cavaties.”

ICUS Newsletter Vol.10, No.4

Page 12
Editor’s Note
On March 11th, at 2:46 pm a
massive earthquake occurred off theeastern coast of Japan and caused ahuge tsunami. In the Sanriku area,
which has a history of tsunami
damage and was also directly
affected by this recent earthquake,there are many countermeasuresagainst tsunami in place, such aslarge seawall, education abouttsunamis and tsunami drills due. But
even with these countermeasures thedamage and casualties are larger
than those which resulted from the1896 Sanriku earthquake.
What countermeasures should
we take? Should all people live inhigh ground or another area far
from the sea for safety? Should
higher seawalls be built? Should
all buildings be built by reinforced
concrete structure and designed towithstand tsunami forces?
There is not only disaster safety
to think of, but also many otherproblems related to communities,

industries, landscapes, and so forth– all of which need to be solved.
Unfortunately, these problems cannot
be solved easily, but gathering all theknowledge and techniques in Japan
as well as around the world is agood place to start. Researchers allover Japan, including those in ICUS
and also in the University of Tokyo
are working towards solving these
problems and helping move towards
reconstruction.
(by M. Koshihara)

Announcement of abstract due date for USMCA 2011 (Chiangmai, Thailand)
We would like to announce that the due date for submitting abstracts for the 10th International Symposium on
New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia (USMCA 2011), to be held in Chiangmai, Thailand
from October 12 to 14, has been extended to the middle of July, 2011. Further information such as the abstract
format is available at the USMCA 2011 official website:
http://www.set.ait.ac.th/rnus/USMCA2011/index.html