IISEE NewsletterMay 30 2018
Number 157

In This Issue• Latin AmericanEarthquakeEngineering course
has started• Reports on Kansaiand Kumamoto
Study Trip

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

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

Latin American Earthquake Engineering Course
has started (Until June 6 for executive officers in charge ofthconstruction engineers, Until July 27th for structural engineers.)

By Mr. Yoshihiro Iitake, Head of Administration Division, IISEEThis year also IISEE conducts Latin
American Earthquake EngineeringCourse with 12 participants include 2• Snapshots of Kansai
and Kumamoto study executive officers from 8 countries
such as Costa Rica (1), Dominicantrip
Republic (2), Ecuador (1), El Salvador(2), Honduras (1), Mexico (2),
Nicaragua (2) and Peru (1).

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The opening ceremony of Latin
American Earthquake Engineering
Course was held at the BRI Hall on
Tuesday, May 15.
Mr. Masayuki Takahashi, Director
General of JICA Tsukuba and Dr.
Mitsumasa Midorikawa, the Presidentof BRI made their welcome speeches.
Ms. SABANDO ANTON Liliana
Jaqueline from Ecuador made aspeech on behalf of all theparticipants.
This course had started from 2014
which is executed with the aim ofMr. Masayuki Takahashi,
Director General of JICA
Tsukuba

Dr. Mitsumasa Midorikawa,the President of BRI

reducing damages from futureearthquakes by enhancing andEarthquakes
disseminating the earthquakeThe 2011 off the Pacific resistant technology in thecoast of Tohoku
participants’ countries.
Earthquake

Reports of Recent
Earthquakes
Utsu Catalog
Earthquake Catalog

There were 69 participants from 10countries had joined Latin American
Earthquake Engineering course so far.
Among them 9 executive officers from7 countries.

Ms. SABANDO ANTON Liliana
Jaqueline from Ecuador

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

Participants of 2018 Latin American Earthquake Engineering
CourseReports on Kansai and Kumamoto Study Trip

By Mr. Naresh MAHARJAN from Nepal, Seiemology course

During the field visit to Kansai region andKumamoto Prefecture, I felt real scenarios ofthe 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2016
Kumamoto earthquake. The video of the 1995
Kobe earthquake screened at DisasterReduction and Human Renovation Institution
showed that how the nature destroyed thewhole city within a few span of time and it
was thrilling and breathtaking. The exhibitions
at the institution also show how people united
together and worked day and night for therenovation of the disaster at that time and it
was beyond my imagination. At Nojima Fault Preservation Museum inAwaji Island, I had a chance to observe the surface ruptures along theNojima fault
thatwaspreserved
after
theearthquakeastheremains forthefuture.
The sceneryfrom the topof
theworld’slongest
suspension
bridge,AkashiKaikyoToji, Kyoto

Bridge, connecting Kobe City and Awaji Island was adorable.
The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence, which caused two large
earthquakes that JMA seismic intensity of 7 was measured, made huge
destruction especially in Mashiki Town, Nishihara Village and Minamiaso
Village. In Minamiaso Village the Aso Bridge was down, JR Hohi line androads were washed out due to landslides triggered by the quake andmany buildings were damaged along the fault lines. I salute to thetechniques and dedicated work of local people in reconstructing
structures and stabilizing the slope along the mountain road and I got achance to learn many techniques from Japan for disaster reduction andmitigation.
Also, I learned that Japan not only preserves the imprints of the naturaldisasters, but also tries to preserve its historical places that weredestroyed by natural disaster, without destroying its originality.

By Mr. Tarun CHAUHAN from India, E course

Enjoy, Now

The study trip to Kansai region andKumamoto prefecture was a truly enrichingexperience for me both in terms oftechnical knowledge and the Japaneseculture.

To begin with, the beauty of Kyoto city andthe preserved ambience of an old cityreminiscent of its capital days truly
enthralled me. Visit to World Heritage sites
Contact Usof Kyoto, viz., The Kinkaku-ji and To-ji
The IISEE Newsletter is temples, was the most appropriate way weintended to act as a could have spent in this historic city.
go-between for IISEE Later, going to Kobeand ex-participants.
and Kumamoto, one
affected by an
We encourage you tocontribute a report and earthquake 23 years
an article to this news- ago and one only 2letter. Please let us
years ago gave aknow your current
different perspective
activities in youron the recovery andcountries.
reconstruction
We also welcome youraspects of the cities.
co-workers and friends I was amazed by theto register our mailingpreservation of thelist.
Earthquake
iiseenews@kenken.go.jp
memories in Kobe
http://iisee.kenken.go.jp
city so that theyAkashi Kaikyo Bridge
serve as a constantreminder for the next
generations. Keeping the past memories alive help in good disastermanagement and learning from the past experiences, and hence it wasa very important takeaway for me. One of the high points of the trip,
quite literally, was when I was at the top of Akashi-Kaikyo bridge, I wasin awe of the engineering marvel that this bridge is.
In Kumamoto prefecture, it was heartbreaking to see the damage
suffered by the 2016 Earthquake. But, the reconstruction of Kumamoto
Castle shows the importance of preserving our local, national andcultural heritage.
Visit to these areas have left a lasting impression on me, and it will becommemorative of the good days I spent in Japan.

By Mr. Nabil MEKAOUI from Morocco, E course
The five days Study Trip to Kansai region and to Kumamoto city was agreat and fruitful experience for participants of the International
Institute of Seismology and Earthquake
Engineering (IISEE). Learning from pastearthquake disasters such as Kobe andKumamoto earthquakes, was very interestingand instructive for me to match the theoreticalknowledge that I learned in the Earthquake
Engineering Course of IISEE, with a realexperience on site. Thanks to this Study Trip, I
got a new motivation to learn more and todisseminate my knowledge in my homecountry Morocco in order to mitigate such anatural disaster damage.
On the other hand, I was very impressed by the effort that Japanese
Authorities make to preserve all what can be instructive for future
generations. The Nojima Fault Preservation and the Kobe Earthquake
Memorial Museums are good examples for that long term vision ofJapanese Leaders.

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Finally, I would
like to express
my consolation
for Japanesepeople for theirloss due tonatural disasters
and I present mygratitude to all
the staff of theJapan
International
Cooperation
Agency (JICA),
the Building
Nojima fault Preservation Museum
ResearchInstitute (BRI)
and the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake
Engineering for the successful co organization of this very fruitful StudyTrip.

Snapshots of Kansai and Kumamoto study trip.

Kinkaku ji templeDisaster Reduction and Human Renovation
Institution

Architectural Preservation site in Toji, Kyoto

Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation
Institution

Road reconstruction site in Aso area

Hyogo Earthquake Engineering Research center,NIED

Collapsed bridges in Aso area

Kumamoto castle