IISEE NewsletterMay 31 2019
Number 169

In This Issue• Latin AmericanEarthquakeEngineering course
has started• Reports on Kansai
and Kumamoto
Study Trip
• Snapshots of Kansai
and Kumamoto
Study trip

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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 Thursday, June 6th for executive officers incharge of construction engineering Until
Friday, July 26th for structuralengineers)
By Mr. Takahiro Yamada, Head of
Administration Division, IISEEThis year also IISEE conducts Latin
American Earthquake Engineering
Course with 11 participants include
2 executive officer from 7 countries
such as Chile (2), Dominican
Republic (2), Ecuador (1), El
Salvador (2), Mexico (1), Nicaragua(2) and Peru (1).
The opening ceremony of Latin
American Earthquake Engineering
Course was held at the BRI Hall on
Tuesday, May 16.
Mr. Takeshi Watanabe, Director
General of JICA Tsukuba and Dr.
Mitsumasa Midorikawa, thePresident of BRI made theirwelcome speeches. Mr.
SANTISTEBAN VEGA Joaquin Mariofrom Peru made a speech on behalfof all the participants.

Mr. Takeshi Watanabe,
Director General of JICA
Tsukuba

Dr. Mitsumasa Midorikawa,the President of BRI

This course had started from 2014
Mr. SANTISTEBAN VEGA
which is executed in the aim ofJoaquin Mario from Peru
reducing damages from futureearthquakes by enhancing and disseminating the earthquakeresistant technology in the participants’ countries.
There were 81 participants from 11 countries had joined LatinAmerican Earthquake Engineering course so far. Among them 11
executive officer from 7 countries

Earthquakes
The 2011 off the Pacificcoast of Tohoku
Earthquake
Reports of Recent
Earthquakes
Utsu Catalog
Earthquake Catalog

Opening Ceremony

Call for Papers
IISEE Bulletin is now
accepting submissionsof papers for the seismology, earthquake
engineering, andtsunami. Developing
countries are targeted,but are not limited.
Your original papers
will be reviewed by theeditorial members andsome experts.

Participants of 2019 Latin American Course

Reports on Kansai and Kumamoto Study trip

NO submission fee isneeded.

Seismology Course, Mr. Md Mominur RAHMAN from Bangladesh

Try to challenge!!

We the participants of IISEE, BRI visited Kansai (Kyoto and Hyogoprefecture) and Kyushu (Kumamoto prefecture) region of thewestern part of Japan from 16th April to 20th April 2019. During
this study trip, we visited many places. These are To-Ji Temple
and Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto city, the Disaster Reduction andHuman Renovation Institute and Hyogo Earthquake Engineering
Research Center (E-Defense) in Kobe and Miki city respectively,Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge Exhibition Center and Nojima fault, Nojima
fault preservative museum in Kobe city and Awaji island

Enjoy, Now

respectively, the Aso-ohashi Bridge area,
Aso campus, Tokai University, Kumamoto
castle and Mashiki town in Kumamoto
prefecture.
The main target and purpose of this study
trip are to acquire and gather practicalknowledge and experiences about typeand nature of faults of the earthquake,causes of earthquake, evacuation &recovery process from the disaster,Mr, Md Mominur
preservation of the memory for future
RAHMAN
generation for better treatment offromBangladesh
disaster, etc. Our country is also anearthquake-prone area due to its geological and geographicalposition. There is also an objective of this study trip is to learn asuitable lesson from Japan how to treat with any disaster for abetter future. There is another objective to know about theconsequence of and knowledge aboutthe history and culture ofJapan.
There is a wise saying "Seeing is believing" as we all know thatpractical experience is more effective than theoretical knowledge.
Combination of these two is the best way to understanding anyevent. From this visit, we have the opportunity to combine
theoretical knowledge with practical experiences. It is essential toacquire knowledge and to learn lessons from past disaster to face
the future catastrophe. Preservation of past disaster history is also
necessary. We all came to know about the mechanism, size,
damaging impact and many more of the 1995 Kobe earthquake,2016 Kumamoto earthquake by this visit. We also came to know

Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

about the effective evacuation system and recovery/restoration
process. This visit enhances our knowledge and experiences level
very high that is badly needed for us. So as participants of IISEE,BRI from disaster-prone and developing country, the acquired
knowledge and experiences from this trip is very beneficial andfruitful for us. We want to share our achieved expertise and skills
and also want to utilize to our country for the better treatment ofany disaster.
Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Course,
Ms. Elliet Del Carmen PEREZ ROMERO from Nicaragua
Ms. Laura Alexandra GONZALEZ RODRIGUEZ from Colombia
Mr. Michael Arturo LINTHON ALVAREZ from Ecuador
As JICA participants,
we came to Japan not
only for academicpurposes, but also tolearn more about theculture, thetraditions, and how
Japan has become thecountry it is today.
After all, we havestudied, we know thatJapan is a large island(From left) Ms. Elliet from Nicaragua, Ms. Laurawhich is affected byfrom Colombia, Mr.Michael from Ecuador.
several natural
Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Course
disasters, being
earthquakes and tsunamis the most devastating ones.

Earthquake fault observation

In the visit to Yoshida
Cho town, we learned
how this city has
become in one of themost advanced citiesin disaster mitigation
countermeasures.
There we had theopportunity to visit
places like thetsunami evacuation
towers, seawalls, andthe disasterprevention park,
which will be used for
temporary housing in
the case of an
emergency. Afterseveral studies, thelocal government established three main aspects which efforts will
be focused: to save lives, protect property and manufacturers,
and support likelihood after a disaster.
On the other hand, in Hirogawa town, we learned how people hadchanged the point of view of tsunami disaster mitigation in theThe IISEE Newsletter is past, like the history of Goryo called: “Inamura no hi, the fire ofintended to act as a rice sheaves” at the Tsunami Educational Center. He had thego-between for IISEE initiative, and with the support of the people, they created theand ex-participants.
first seawall with only compacted soil. At present, this protection
We encourage you tomeasure is still being used for the mitigation of tsunami damage.

Contact Us

contribute a report andan article to this newsletter. Please let usknow your current
activities in yourcountries.
We also welcome yourco-workers and friends
to register our mailinglist.
iiseenews@kenken.go.jp

The last visit was to Kumamoto area, where we could see theprocess of reconstruction of some structures as Aso bridge, andthe most important cultural heritage of the city, Kumamoto
Castle, which was also damaged by Kumamoto 2016 earthquake.
Also, in this area, we visited Mashiki town, where we could
observe the right lateral displacement of the strike-slip fault, andit was an exciting experience.
The lessons learned on this trip are significant for us. By the time
when we return to each of our countries, we can to socialize thoseexperiences in our countries, especially the capacity of recovery ofpeople after a disaster, the importance of the knowledge in caseof natural events and the actions that everyone has to consider
because it makes the difference to save many lives.
Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to JICA, all IISEE
staff members and to all people who contributed to thecoordination and guidance during all the study trip.
Earthquake Engineering Course
Mr. Alexander Abraham SOTO CARDENAS from Peru
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Building
Research Institute (BRI), and International Institute of Seismology
and Earthquake Engineering (IISEE) organized a study trip toKyoto, Hyogo and Kumamoto prefectures from April 16th to April
20th, 2019. In that opportunity, I could learn about Kobe City andits recovery after the Kobe Earthquake in 1995. Also, I visited
Kyoto City and learned about the history of some historical
temples. Likewise, I could appreciate the megastructure, Akashi
Kaikyo Bridge which connects Kobe City and Awaji Island.
On the final two days, I was in Kumamoto City where I could learn
about the damages in the affected zones due to the Earthquakethat happened in 2016.

The experience I had during those five days
was to take awareness and transmit
learnings that the people in those cities havereached significant development after thoseseismic events. This development has
achieved through cooperation, which joined
in a collective work between the Local andCentral Government and the citizens. They
built such as the Disaster Reduction,
Human Renovation Institution and theMr. AlexanderNojima Fault Preservation Museum in Hyogo
Abraham SOTO
Prefecture. Likewise, the recovery andCARDENAS from Peru
maintenance of their Temples in Kyoto andKumamoto Cities are incredible.
I thank JICA, BRI, and IISEE to give me that opportunity to know
how the Japanese people have faced those natural disasters andto learn that collective work between the authorities and thepeople with a purpose lead to growing and enhancing ourresponses to tackle those natural disasters.

Back Numbers
http://iisee.kenken.go.jp/
nldb/Nojima Fault Preservation Museum
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge：https://goo.gl/maps/8QEhZxLPup4qiSwq7
Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institute：
https://goo.gl/maps/au6WgjbLbStdAUkKA
Hiromura Embankment：https://goo.gl/maps/zvgVC4aPZptEisCe9
Mashiki town ：https://goo.gl/maps/Ug6VpqQ24gsv3CAD7

Snapshots of Kansai and Kumamoto Study trip

Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

Hiromura Embankment
Hirokawa town, Wakayama

Earthquake fault observation
Mashiki Town, Kumamoto

Disaster Reduction and HumanRenovation Institute

Earthquake fault observation
Mashiki Town, Kumamoto

Mashiki Town, Kumamoto