IISEE Newsletter
April 28 2015
Number 120

In This Issue Latin AmericanEarthquakeEngineering Coursefor 2015
 Reports on Kansai
Study Trip
 Visitors to IISEE Lunch with Songs
under the CherryBlossoms
 Letter from Exparticipant
 In Memoriam Snapshots of Kansai
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 Coursefor 2015
By Dr. Toshiaki Yokoi & Mr. Mizuo Inukai of IISEEIISEE in cooperation with JICA will implement the second round of Latin
American Earthquake Engineering Course from May 25 to July 25. The teaching
language of this short course is Spanish. IISEE has agreed with JICA that 16
participants in total will be invited from Dominican Republic, El Salvador,Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. They will study in IISEE located inTsukuba, Japan for 6 weeks and then move to San Salvador. There they will
have a chance to participate in the structural tests using the local materials andthe popular methods of construction in Latin America.
Only these 6 countries have selected this course for Request Survey held by
JICA and the official invitation called “General Information” of JICA has been
sent only to them. The next Request Survey will be executed in this summer.
Please talk with your government first, if you wish to participate or to send youryounger colleagues in this opportunity. We are always waiting for you and yourcolleagues.

Reports on Kansai Study Trip
(1)Mr. Kyaw Kyaw LIN (Myanmar, Seismology Course )The study trip to Kansai District (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe Prefectures) and Awaji
Island from 13-16 April, 2015 was one of the most interesting and memorable
things that happened during my whole stay in Japan.

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Seismology and Earthquake Engineering courses visited the Disaster Reductionand Human Renovation Institution, Hyogo Earthquake Engineering ResearchCenter, Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Ninna-ji Temple, NijoCastle, Uemachi Fault and Nojima Fault Preservation
Museum to gain knowledge on the new technology,
recovery process and retrofitting of historical temples.
I was impressed when we visited Nojima Preservative
Museum located in Awaji Island. The museum was very
nice and informative to understand what had happenedby the 1995 Kobe (Hyogoken-Nanbu) Earthquake.
I also learned how the fault moved and the damages in the area. Before thetrip, I always learn and see active faults from the textbooks, journals etc., but
owing to this study trip, I observed the actual fault and that’s a great
experience ever happened to me.
Finally, what I have learned from this study trip would be very useful not only

on my part but also to my country. That was a great opportunity for me tolearn Japanese culture and the advanced technology for disaster mitigation andprevention. I thank IISEE, BRI and JICA.

(2)Ms. Nadia Eda MACAVILCA ROJAS (Peru, Seismology Course)
On April 13 to 16, Seismology class visited Uemachi and Nojima active faults inOsaka and Awaji Cities respectively. We walked along Uemachi fault in Osaka,and visited the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution (Kobe)
and the Nojima Fault Preservation Museum in (Awaji).
The records of The Great Hanshin Earthquake Disaster taught us theimportance of saving memories of tough experiences to encourage thecontinuous improvement in disaster reduction.
The visit to Uemachi fault made us realize the highseismic risk in Osaka city and also the memorial cornerof the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake brought us a picture of
the potential damage.
The visit to the world’s largest shaking table, E-Defense
in Miki City, shows the commitment of Japan in thedisaster reduction through its investment in earthquake
engineering research, and also enjoyed once in a
lifetime opportunity to admire the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.

Earthquakes

In summary during this fulfilling trip we understood how Japan attained theircurrently leadership in disaster reduction management and engineering
earthquake investing in preparedness and research.

The 2011 off the Pacificcoast of Tohoku
Earthquake(3)Ms. Mary Criss SUAREZ ANTUNEZ (Peru, Earthquake EngineeringCourse)

Reports of Recent
Earthquakes
Utsu Catalog
Earthquake Catalog

We went to Kansai area for a Study Trip. We learned about the 1995
Hyogoken-Nanbu (Kobe) Earthquake, the importance of measures adopted by
the Japanese Government and the cooperation within the local community.
We visited institutions created as a reminder for future generations. At theAkashi-Kaikyo Bridge we learned about the construction and technologies
applied for its maintenance; at Osaka PrefecturalGovernment Building, we saw the procedure step-bystep for retrofitting with base isolation system.
At the facility of E-Defense, we saw Three-Dimensional
Full-Scale Earthquake Testing Facility used to improve
the seismic performance of buildings.
In Kyoto City, we learned about the restoration of wood
temples built in early Heian and Edo Period.
I was surprised about the differences between the technologies used severaleras ago and the present ones. Since 1995’s disaster, the efforts of theJapanese Government for making Kobe a resilient city are evident.
I would like to thank the IISEE - BRI staff for giving us the opportunity to learn
and know more about Japanese technology and culture.

(4)Ms. Kathrine Anne Malabuyoc CAILING (Philippines, Earthquake
Engineering Course)
The study trip to Kansai District last April 13-16, 2015 was a great experience.
The chance to witness the construction site of retrofitting works by base

isolation of the Osaka Prefectural Government Building was indeed informativeand at the same time enjoyable.
The preservation and passing of the knowledge to the new generation about
earthquake disasters such as the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation
Institution and the Nojima Fault Preservation Museum was one of the things I
admired here in Japan.
For more than six months now, we always learnt about
the world’s largest three dimensional shaking table (Edefense) and being able to be up close with it wasamazing.

breathtaking.

Understanding the technology used for the constructionof the longest center span suspension bridge, theAkashi Kaikyo Bridge, was interesting enough but giventhe chance to be on topmost of the bridge tower is awonderful experience. The view from the top is

Glimpse of Japanese history were also shared to us by showing us the repairingof the heritage buildings such as the Ninna-ji Temple and Nijo-jo Castle. It wasvery interesting as it shows the construction technology of Japan sincehundreds years ago and how the Japanese values its culture and preserves it
for several generations.
I am deeply thankful to JICA and IISEE-BRI in organizing and financing thistrip. The privileges and perks brought by this trip were once in a lifetime
experiences. We had so much fun and as the same time had been educated.

(5)Mr. Karl Vincent Colobong SORIANO (Philippines, Tsunami Disaster
Mitigation Course)

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

In 1854, a strong earthquake shook Hirokawa village, and Mr. GoryoHamaguchi realized that a tsunami might come and told the people to evacuate
into the higher grounds. As the night falls and darkness surrounds the village,
he put the rice sheaves on fire so that the people who are still evacuating canfind their way, and this story is known to be the “Inamura no Hi”.
After the 1854 Ansei Nankai Earthquake, Goryo
Hamaguchi helped the people of Hirokawa Town torecover from the disaster. Using his own money, hehired villagers to build a seawall along the coast of thetown to protect them from future tsunamis.
True enough, in 1946 Nankai Earthquake, a tsunami
attacked again the village. In today’s modern world it issometimes difficult to imagine how we can preserve thepast for the future. Hamaguchi’s visionary leadership is
one of the core values every leader should possess.
Here in Japan, the community is not only raising a child but a generation that is
prepared for any disaster. I am very much impressed and amazed on how the
local governments have stretched every effort to prepare their own
communities for tsunamis, starting from the tsunami walls in Hirogawa, the tide
gates of Numazu City, and the tsunami evacuation towers in Yoshida town, thelist goes on as Japan learns from the past and grows into the future.
No matter how old, no matter how primitive, we can never deny the past andthe only way we can see through the future is by looking back in the past andnever again commit the same mistakes.

Visitors to IISEE (March – April, 2015)
By Dr.Toshiaki Yokoi, Director of IISEE
We would like to introduce the visitors to IISEE in March and April.
March 10
(middle 3 people; left to right)
Mr. Alexandros K. Margaritis,
Mr. Jair Torres and
Mr. Soichiro Yasukawa
from Disaster Risk Reduction Unit,
Natural Science Sector, UNESCO.

Enjoy, Now
March 20
(left 2 people; left to right)
Mr. Enrique O’Farrill Julien and
Ms. Melissa Sanchez
fromAgencía
deCooperación
Internacional de Chile (AGCI).
(middle 2 people; left to right)
an officer of the Chilean Embassy inJapan andthe representative of the JICA Chile
office / an officer of JICA HeadQuarter.

Contact Us
The IISEE Newsletter isintended to act as ago-between for IISEE
and ex-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
to register our mailinglist.
iiseenews@kenken.go.jp
http://iisee.kenken.go.jp

March 18

Mr. Carlos A. Villacis, Regional Project Manager and Strategy
Coordinator of the GEM Foundation, where GEM stands for theGlobal Earthquake Model, and an ex-participant of Earthquake
Engineering Course (1985-86).

April 13(right 2 people; left to right)
Dr. Artashes Javadyan (Director) andDr. Patvakan S. Voskanyan (DeputyDirector)
from National Bureau of Expertises,Armenia.
(left) an officer of Armenian Embassyin Japan.

Lunch with Songs under the Cherry Blossoms
By Mr. Takashi Yamashita, Head of IISEE Administration Division
On Friday April 3, IISEE had a “Cherry Blossom Viewing” lunch party.
Although it was cloudy, we enjoyed a good view of cherry blossoms andJapanese style lunch boxes. As new staff members, Ms. Chieko Gotou and I
introduced ourselves. Also, we celebrated two participants’ birthday singing abirthday song all together.
There are lots of cherry trees around IISEE building, and such cherry trees
come into full bloom at the beginning of April, which is exactly the same time
when fiscal year in Japan
starts.
“Cherry BlossomViewing” is held during theperiod when we can feel thenatural breath of spring, andtherefore it is one of theJapanese people’s traditional
seasonal events. People go
to see the cherry blossoms
with their family, friends andcolleagues and enjoy eatingand drinking underneath.
We were happy to havesharedthetimewith
training participants underthe beautiful blossoms.

under Cherry Blossoms

Letter from Ex-Participant✑IISEE sent Year Book vol.32 to ex-participants in last March, and we received
lots of replies from them. Out of them, we would like to introduce names of
those who made a comforting feedback to IISEE.
Mr. Afsar khan (2006-07 Seismology Course, Pakistan)Dr. Himangshu Sekhar MANDAL (2005-06 Seismology Course, India)
Dr. Carydis Panayotis, Gr. (1968-69 Advanced Earthquake Engineering Course,Greece)

In MemoriamBack Numbers
http://iisee.kenken.go.jp/
nldb/

It was with profound sorrow that we received the sad news of the passing awayof following two ex-participants.
We would like to extend the sincerest sympathy from all of us at IISEE to theirlosses.
Mr. Francisco B. LIMETA (1966-67 Earthquake Engineering Course, 1974-75
Advanced Earthquake Engineering Course, 1980 Seminar Course, Philippines)
Dr. Georgios STAVRAKAKIS (1984-85 Seismology Course, Greece)✐Snapshots of Kansai Study Trip

at the top of the Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi

Disaster Reduction and Human
Renovation Institution

in front of Inamura-no-Hi no YakataHyogo Earthquake
Engineering ResearchCenter (E-Defense)

Nojima Fault Preservation Museum
Group Photo in front of Nijo Jo