IISEE NewsletterMay 31, 2022
Number 205

In This Issue• Latin AmericanEarthquake
Engineering Course
has started• Completion of Group
Training and Start ofIndividual Study forAnnual Training
Program• Report on Study Trip-IISEE RegularCourse• Visit to National
Research Institutefor Earth Scienceand Disaster
Resilience (April 27)

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
By Mr. Takahiro YAMADA, Head of Administration Division, IISEE,and Dr. Haruhiko Suwada, Senior Research Scientist, IISEEDue to Covid-19, IISEE conducts
Latin American Earthquake
Engineering Course in 2022 fully
online again as last year. There
are 10 participants include 3
executive officers from 4
countries such as Colombia (2),Mexico (1), Nicaragua (5) andPeru (2).
The opening ceremony of Latin
American Earthquake Engineering
Course was held online onThursday, May 12.
Ms. Emiko MUTSUYOSHI, Director
General of JICA Tsukuba and Dr.
Takao SAWACHI, the President of
BRI made their welcomespeeches. Mr. LOZANO LOZANOCarlos Fernando from Colombia
made a speech on behalf of all theparticipants.
This course had started from 2014
which is executed in the aim of
reducing damages from futureearthquakes by enhancing anddisseminating the earthquakeresistant technology in theparticipants’ countries.
There were 104 participants from11 countries had joined Latin

Ms. Emiko MUTSUYOSHI,
Director General of JICA
Tsukuba

Dr. Takao SAWACHI,
the President of BRI

Mr. LOZANO LOZANO Carlos
Fernando from Colombia

American Earthquake Engineering course so far. Among them 14
executive officers from 7 countries.

IISEE Net andTraining
IISEENETIISEE-UNESCO Lecture
NoteIISEE E-learning

Latin American Earthquake Engineering Course:
https://iisee.kenken.go.jp/en/training/train/latin/

Completion of Group Training and Start ofIndividual Study for Annual Training Program
By Dr. Bunichiro Shibazaki, Director of IISEE

Synopsis Database

Group training for the IISEE regular course for the academic year
Bulletin Database2021-22 was completed on May 13. During the group training,participants were divided into three courses (seismology,earthquake engineering, and tsunami disaster prevention) andspent about eight months attending lectures and acquiring basic
and applied knowledge in each field.
The 2021-22 course, like the previous one, started with allparticipants remaining in their home countries amid immigration
restrictions due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
As of May 2022, 16 participants have been able to come to Japan.
However, two others are participating remotely from their homecountries. During the week starting April 16, we were also able toconduct a study trip to the Tohoku region.
The individual study began on May 16. Several participants will
stay far from Tsukuba to receive individual study supervision. We
hope that all participants will be able to obtain research resultsthat will contribute to earthquake and tsunami disaster prevention
Earthquakes
in their home countries. We would like to express our respect for
The 2011 off the Pacificthe efforts of the participants and our sincere gratitude to all thecoast of Tohoku
lecturers and supervisors.
Earthquake
Reports of Recent
Earthquakes
Utsu Catalog
Earthquake Catalog

Annual Training Course
https://iisee.kenken.go.jp/en/training/train/annual/

Report on Study Trip -IISEE Regular Course
By Mr. PRATAMA Wahyudi Nasrul from Indonesia, S-Course
IISEE participants experienced study trip thisyear. Seismology and Earthquake Engineering
Course participants went together to Miyagi
and Fukushima Prefecture on 18 April – 21April 2022. For Seismology Course, a great
lecture by Prof. Toru Matsuzawa from Tohoku
University became the opening activity for thisCall for Papers
IISEE Bulletin is now
accepting submissionsof papers for the seismolog y , ea rth qu ake
engineering, andtsunami. Developing
countries are targeted,but are n ot li mited.

study trip. Then, we visited many places during the study trip
period.
In this study trip, we saw traces of the tsunami caused by theTohoku earthquake 11 years ago. We could feel how terrible theevent was. We extend our deepest condolences to all the victimsof this disaster.
On the other hand, we got many things that could be used as
lessons in dealing with this terrible disaster. The most interesting
thing was when we saw Arahama Elementary School still standing
strong facing the earthquake and tsunami, even though thisschool was very close to the beach, then the people came to thisschool to take it as a shelter. This point shows that thestrengthening of the building is very important.
Then, we were very impressed because Japan clearly recorded thedetails of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in such a perfectway. All information related to this disaster were collected inmuseums and public facilities that we visited on this study trip.
Japan had built awareness of the disaster through education to allof us. Thank you very much! Tsunami Tendenko!

Your original papers will
be reviewed by theeditorial members andsome experts.
NO submission fee isneeded.

By Mr. PUTRA Yogha Mahardikha Kuncoro from Indonesia, T-Course

Try to challenge!!

I am pleased to have the opportunity totake a study trip to Tohoku District. It
was a great experience, and I not only
just learned but also can see the natureand culture. All of the sensei, IISEE staff,
and JICA coordinator are kind and very
well guided us on this study trip.
I visited several tsunami disastermuseums and memorial facilities, andthen also got exercises to carry out tsunami surveys, such as
looking for tsunami deposits and measuring the height of tsunami
run-ups. I am amazed how the Japanese government was able torebuild the area destroyed by the 2011 Great East Japan
Earthquake disaster with good planning and considering thepossibility of similar disaster events in the future. An example wasbuilding embankments on the beach or river and moving
community settlements to higher locations. Evacuation routes andtsunami shelters were also well prepared by the Japanese
government. I realized that this is not an easy job; it needs good
cooperation between the Japanese government and local society.
Furthermore, I am also amazed at how the Japanese governmentand community are able to transfer knowledge and experience ofthe tsunami disaster in a sustainable manner. They can make anexcellent education system and utilize all the resources such asmyths and local wisdom to build the capacity to cope withearthquake and tsunami disasters.
I am sure that the knowledge and experience from the study trip
will be helpful for my future work. I also hope to utilize thelessons learned and my experience from Japan to further
contribute to my country Indonesia.

By Ms. CAMPOS CARRANZA Eugenia Guadalupe from El Salvador,
E-Course

Enjoy Now

The study trip, which took place from 18
to 21 April, was focused on visiting
disaster memorial facilities in twoprefectures, Miyagi and Fukushima, inthe Tohoku Region. The main objective
was to learn about the experience andlessons from the affected areas of theM.9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake that
also triggered a tsunami. Most of thefacilities are located on the 3.11
“Densho road,” which refers to a network of exhibitions in Aomori,Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. To recall some of them,
it is worth mentioning The Miyagi 3.11 Tsunami Disaster MemorialMuseum. The incredible thing about this museum is that every
detail represents something, such as the height of the roof on thenorth side (6.9m), which was the height of the tsunami when it
struck the area; it also contains several memories of the disaster.
Also impressive was the visit to Arahama Elementary School,
where 320 lives were saved by being used as a shelter due to thedirector’s fast reaction. The place keeps the tsunami traces, and aclock stopped at 3:55 pm shows the exact time when the tsunami
reached the school.
We improve our understanding of disaster management from thestudy trip through Japan’s experience. Some lessons are: thepreparedness before the event, taking into consideration the local
conditions is essential; during the event, a quick reaction is vital;
we learn about “Tsunami Tendenko,” which means run away fromthe tsunami and put your life as a priority. Finally, after the event,
do not forget the important lessons in order to save precious lives
in the future.

Contact UsThe IISEE Newsletter isintended to act as a gobetween for IISEE andex-participants.
We encourage you tocontribute a report andan article to this newsletter. Please let us
know your current
activities in yourcountries.
We also welcome yourco-workers and friends
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Arahama Elementary School

Visit to National Research Institute for Earth
Science and Disaster Resilience (April 27)
By Dr. Hiroto Nakagawa, Senior Research Engineer, IISEESixteen participants
visited National
Research Institute forEarth Science andDisaster Resilience(NIED) on April 27th.
Three participants
participated in theonline lectures fromtheir respective
countries. First, they
watched an
introductory video ofNational Research Institute for EarthNIED, then observed
Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED)
the Large-scale
Earthquake Simulator.
In the online lectures, a lecturer introduced the Network Center
for Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcano and a high-density seismic
observation network that comprises the Monitoring of Waves on
Land and Seafloor (MOWLAS). The other two lecturers from theEarthquake Disaster Mitigation Research Division gave the lectureon their research activities related to seismic performance ofstructures based on the shaking table tests conducted by theLarge-scale Earthquake Simulator and the Three-Dimensional FullScale Earthquake Testing Facility (E-Defense). The participants’high interests made active discussions.