Earthquakes

Citation

(2002), "Earthquakes", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 11 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2002.07311cag.003

Earthquakes

Earthquakes

Earthquake Engineering Research Institutehttp://www.eeri.org/earthquakes/recent.html

A preliminary report on the earthquake that occurred on the Sultandag Fault near Afyon, Turkey, on 3 February 2002, is now posted at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Web site. It was prepared by colleagues at the Department of Earthquake Engineering, Kandilli Observatory, and the Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University. The report contains maps of the mainshock, aftershocks, and damage distribution; photos; and some damage information. As of the week after the quake, there were reported to be 54 dead, 172 injured, and 107 collapsed buildings in 11 villages. Because the investigative team still has members in the field, the report will be updated on-line as information becomes available.

Bhujn Earthquakehttp://www.booth-seismic.co.uk/Gujarat/

After the Bhuj earthquake of 26 January 2001 the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage sponsored a study of the many centuries-old buildings in the stricken area that are of historical or cultural importance. At this Web site is a report that describes the findings of that tour, including 40 photographs and recommendations for future restoration and protection of the structures. "Effect of the Bhuj, India earthquake of 26 January 200l on heritage buildings", by Edmund Booth and Rabindra Vasavada, makes some observations on how the seismic response of massive masonry structures differs from that of engineered structures in reinforced concrete or steel.

TriNetwww.trinet.org;www.trinet.org/shake/archive/scenario.html

TriNet is a collaborative project of the California Institute of Technology, the California Division of Mines and Geology, and the US Geological Survey. Its aim is to create an effective real-time earthquake information system for Southern California. Now nearing completion, TriNet incorporates new technologies to provide vital information within minutes of an earthquake, thus helping to mitigate the impact of large earthquakes in the region. The system is designed to aid both scientists and emergency managers.

Through continuous monitoring of seismicity in Southern California, TriNet produces rapid estimates of earthquake times, locations, and magnitudes, enabling direct estimates of the strength of ground shaking near earthquakes. Its products include maps known as "ShakeMaps" that demonstrate ground acceleration, velocity, and other measures of intensity. The TriNet ShakeMap Web pages now display not only near-real-time information, but also, at the second URL above, selected earthquake scenarios for southern California. Maps for other regions of the USA will be available soon. Indeed, users interested in specific scenarios not currently available can make a request to the ShakeMap Working Group via a comment form on the ShakeMap Web site. The maps are already being used in emergency response planning by city, county, state and federal agencies, by response planners and managers of utilities and other private organizations, and by engineers.

Global Earthquake Safety Initiative (GESI)geohaz.org/project/gesi/GesiIntro.htm

As the world economy grows, urban areas are rapidly increasing in size, especially in developing nations. These cities are in a unique position to make decisions that can greatly affect their vulnerability to future risks. To implement successful development plans, cities must be able to assess their risk from natural disasters, predict future risk patterns with and without mitigation, and track the long-term success of efforts that have been undertaken. The Global Earthquake Safety Initiative (GESI) was developed to meet these needs, offering cities access to information that is necessary to begin the process of addressing urban earthquake safety. In many ways GESI builds on the highly successful RADIUS (Risk Assessment Tools for the Diagnosis of Urban Areas against Seismic Disasters) Project launched as part of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

Bruce A. Boltwww.whfreeman.com/bolt/content.htm

This Web site was created to complement the classic text Earthquakes, by Bruce A. Bolt (now in its fourth edition). The site is a free resource for students and instructors and offers a variety of electronic instructional and learning tools designed to support the textbook and provide additional insights into earthquakes. Resources are organized by textbook chapter and by content type, and include Web links, flash cards, animations and images, and news about recent earthquakes and earthquake-related happenings.

"Learning from Earthquakes Project"www.eeri.org/earthquakes/Reconn/Arequipa_Peru/Arequipa.htmlwww.eqnet.org

As part of its "Learning from Earthquakes Project", the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) sends reconnaissance teams to the sites of major earthquakes and publishes the resulting field reports in both hard copy and on the Web. The institute's latest offering, by Eduardo Fierro, is on the Arequipa, Peru, earthquake of 23 June 2001. For those interested in the Arequipa event, as well as other significant recent earthquakes, comprehensive listings of the reports generated by these events are available from the Earthquake Information Network (EQNET) Web site at the second URL above.

European Environment Agency (EEA) reports.eea.eu.int/Environmental_Issues_No_21/en/enviissue21.pdf

As part of its assessment of the sustainable use of water in Europe, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has produced this report, "Sustainable water use in Europe – Part 3: extreme hydrological events: floods and droughts". The document presents an overview of the main causes and impacts of these extreme events in Europe and provides an overview of policy responses to prevent such disasters or reduce resultant damage. It also describes some of the major recent disasters in the region, and thus provides a comprehensive survey of flood and drought hazards in Europe.

World Wildlife Federation (WWF)www.panda.org/news/press/news.cfm?id=2386

New research commissioned by the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) has warned that dams built with the promise of reducing flooding can often exacerbate the problem with catastrophic consequences, as some recent floods have shown. The research paper, "Dams and floods", shows that dams are often designed with poor knowledge of the potential for extreme floods. Where data do exist, may fail to consider such current risks as increased deforestation or the drainage of wetlands. The loss of these natural sponges for floodwaters can increase the risk of extreme floods. The paper argues that many of these problems could be avoided if the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams were applied to future dam projects. The WWF Web site above not only provides a news release about these findings, but also the complete paper in Microsoft Word format.

Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Centre (EDM)www.edu.bosai.goljp/english.htm;www.edm.bosai.go.jp/team3/pamph3_e.html

The main purpose of the Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Centre (EDM), part of the National Research Institute for Earthquake Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) in Japan, is to produce "frontier research on earthquake disaster mitigation for urban regions". EDM's Web site provides information about the centre's "Development of Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Technologies and their Integration for the Asia-Pacific Region" (EQTAP) project, and the centre's three research teams: the Disaster Process Simulation Team, the Disaster Information System Team, and the Structural Performance Team. The centre has recently released two reports:

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  "Simulation and prediction of earthquake ground motion and structural performance", available in PDF format at the second URL above; and,

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  "The report on the Chi-Chi, Taiwan, Earthquake of 21 September 1999", available on CD-ROM and including material also available from the EDM Web site.

Additional field reports and other documents are available from this site. To order publications or obtain more information about the centre, contact EDM, NIED, 2465-1 Mikiyama, Miki, Hyogo 673-0433, Japan. Tel: +81-794-83-6651; Fax: +81-794-83-6685; e-mail: Webmaster @edm.bosai.go.jp.