A worldwide compilation of earthquakes and their magnitudes, losses, and references for information from ancient times to the near present.
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/...Up to the minute reports of worldwide earthquakes, with maps, estimates of affected local area, seismological information, and other data. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/Reconnaissance reports from recent earthquakes.
http://www.eeri.orgIAEE has launched a new initiative named “Masters Program”. Motivation for the initiative is for IAEE to serve as “Connection” among the past, present, and future of earthquake engineering and to secure the transfer of knowledge across generations.
In “Masters Program”, the following three events: “Read the Masters”, “Meet the Masters”, and “Greet the Masters” are organized. The concept is to connect legendary figures in the world of earthquake engineering with contemporaries. All three events are to be organized in tune with World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE), and we are pleased to announce that the inaugurating events will be programed into 17WCEE to be held in Sendai, Japan, during September 13 and 18, 2020. (wcee website).
Please see the link below for details of “Masters Program”
Link
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
Indonesian Earthquake Engineering Association (IEEA), Andalas University, and Bandung Institute of Technology will be organizing the 4th International Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation on 26-27 September, 2019 in Padang, Indonesia.
Please see the conference website for further information.
http://conference.ft.unand.ac.id/index.php/iceedm/2019
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE central office and Dr. Carlos Zavala
The Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) have published a Spanish translation of the oral history of the late Professor Vitelmo Bertero.
The translated oral history is available from the link below:
- IAEE Central Office
Colleagues, Affiliate Members and Friends of IAEE,
On June 18, 2018, I assumed the position of the fifteenth President of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE). I feel much honored to have been elected to this prestigious position, and shall work to my best to promote the sustainable development of IAEE. The utmost mission of IAEE is to provide an international forum in which people with various kinds of expertise convene and discuss issues in the mitigation of earthquake-related disasters. Traditionally, IAEE activities have been energized by engineering practitioners and researchers (civil, structural, mechanical, and geotechnical) and earth scientists (geologists, geophysicists, seismologists). In recent years, the involvement of architects, urban planners, public officials, and social scientists have increased, creating a more multidisciplinary IAEE.
IAEE was founded in 1963. Since that time, IAEE has continued to grow, and as of today, a total of 59 countries and regions are registered in IAEE. Once every four years, IAEE organizes the World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE) at various cities around the world. The last one (the Sixteenth WCEE, called 16WCEE) was held at Santiago, Chile, on January 2017, where 3,000 people registered for the conference. 15WCEE, which was organized four year before 16WCEE, was held at Lisbon, Portugal, on September 2012, where 2,300 people registered. For nearly 60 years, WCEE has been one of the largest technical/professional gatherings and continues to serve as "Connection" among the stakeholders in relevant disciplines as well as people with diverse backgrounds in culture, religion, and social structure.
Our globe is experiencing an explosive increase in population combined with rapid development and urbanization due to growing economic activities. We now face the ultimate question of how to ensure the sustainable development of the human sphere, in which the threat of earthquake disasters is one of the most critical problems to resolve on a global scale. We shall not overlook the reality that the densification of our cities and towns, which occurs as a result of such development and urbanization, makes our society more and more vulnerable against earthquake disasters. To overcome this vulnerability, we must invent novel solutions, and to this end, expend a more interdisciplinary effort, in which new disciplines are forged through collective, integral efforts among diverse genres. It is also notable that we shall further a transdisciplinary attitude, in which linkage with the real world is appreciated, so that solutions reach the society in a most effective and timely manner. IAEE wishes to serve as "Connection" among people and genres to make our efforts more interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary.
Human factors are naturally influential in the understanding and promotion of efforts that seek for the mitigation of earthquake-related disasters. Learning from the past and reflecting it to the present and future are important. IAEE regards it as its duty to ensure "Connection" among the past, present, and future and to secure the transfer of knowledge across generations. IAEE is currently preparing for a new initiative that can assist such efforts, and will present it soon in detail.
On behalf of the family of national organizations that comprise IAEE, I greet you with respect and look forward to working with you.
- Masayoshi Nakashima, President
- IAEE central office and Polat Gülkan
- IAEE Central Office
-Bob Reitherman
Chair, EERI Oral History Committee
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
NARLabs, an independent non-profit institute consisted of several national laboratories in Taiwan, summarized a brief report of the earthquake and the resulting damage.- IAEE National Delegate, Prof. Shyh-Jiann Hwang of National Taiwan University
THE IAEE AT FIFTY: A Brief History of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering By Polat Gulkan and Robert Reitherman, September 2012
But disaster pursues us. It pursues us with a step as steady as time, and an appetite as keen as death.
- Lord Beaverbrook
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. A Half-Century of Perspective
3. Seismic Safety: Our Common, Elusive Goal
4. An Overview of the Establishment and Development of IAEE
5. World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI) and Other Global Programs
6. The World Conferences on Earthquake Engineering
7. Conclusion
Appendix 1
Prehistory of IAEE (1960 through 1963)
Appendix 2
Officers of IAEE from 1963
Appendix 3
Member Countries of IAEE as of 2012
Link to PDF file
Indonesian Earthquake Engineering Association (IEEA) and Udayana University (UNUD)-Bali hold the 3rd International Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation on 1-2 August, 2016 in Bali, Indonesia.
Please check the leaflet below for the first annuncement and call for abstracts.
the 3rd International Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation
- IAEE Central Office
- IAEE Central Office
One of earthquake engineering's leading lights of the past several decades, Nigel Priestley, has passed away. The notice from the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering is reproduced here. It is with deep sadness that I inform you Professor Nigel Priestley passed away peacefully on Tuesday December 23, 2014 in Christchurch, surrounded by his wife and children, after a long battle with cancer. Nigel revolutionised the design of structures to resist earthquakes and made everlasting impact on the higher education for earthquake engineers in NZ, US and Europe. Nigel received numerous honours for his immense contribution to the science and art of Earthquake engineering. Amongst these, it include honorary doctorates from ETH, Zurich and Cujo Argentina; Nigel was a Distinguished Fellow of IPENZ, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM), and a Life Member and a past President of the Society (1985-1986).
- Gregory MacRae, IAEE National Delegate of New Zealand, with much help from friends and colleagues in New Zealand and elsewhere
Following a formal application for membership by la Asociacion Costarricense de Ingenieria Estructural y Sismica (ACIES), the IAEE Executive Committee has resolved to accept Costa Rica as its newest Member Country. We welcome our Costa Rican colleagues into the Association. With this addition, IAEE now has reached 58 members.
- IAEE Central Office
It has now been two years since the occurrence of what has turned out to be one of the deadliest and most costly natural disasters ever witnessed in the world. The M9 mega-event that shook the northeastern seaboard of Honshu Island, where the nearest major city is Sendai, ranks among the largest seismic events that have been recorded. The earthquake unleashed a major tsunami that swept across many smaller fishing settlements along the Tohoku coastline, and exacted a human loss toll that stands in excess of 18 000 with many injured. A series of seemingly unlikely equipment failures at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant led to multiple meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials into the environment following the earthquake and tsunami.
The scale of the disaster beggars description in terms also of economic losses. While performance of building systems, railway networks and early warning equipment for lifelines was good, many images of death and destruction brought by the tsunami were etched into the memory of everyone in the world. The Japanese people bore the tragedy with fortitude, and have gained the respect of other countries that must live within the shadow of the seismic threat because of the many individual tales of communal spirit and selfless solidarity.
This disaster must serve as a call for sustained vigilance and unflagging preparedness to protect lives and assets against the seismic hazard. The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) against natural disasters and their harmful effects was crafted in 2005 in Japan ten years after the Kobe earthquake to serve as the blueprint for risk reduction policies that governments must adopt and enforce. The International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) was among professional organizations that contributed to the preparation of HFA, and through its member national organizations, has been among the principal mechanisms for implementing the guiding principles that it has outlined.
We respectfully commemorate the memory of victims of the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake with bowed heads, and pledge to pursue the objectives of IAEE in ensuring a safer world for all those who stand in danger of the seismic peril.
- Officers and Executive Committee Members of IAEE
We are deeply grieved to inform the international community of earthquake engineers that Professor Sheldon Cherry, Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, has passed away on March 23, 2014, a few days short of his 86th birthday. Professor Cherry's service to IAEE was as follows: Director (1973-1980), President (1996-2002), Honorary Member (from 2004). [move page]
Nicholas Neocles Ambraseys (1929-2012) was one of the towering figures of engineering seismology, who played a key role in the development of the discipline for more than half a century - from before the foundation of the IAEE in 1963 (he attended the committee meetings in 1960 that led to its establishment) right up to the time of his death at his London home on 28th December. [move page]
National organizations from the following countries have endorsed to the IAEE declaration.
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Korea, Macedonia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Chinese Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela
hat seven scientists who were members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks have been sentenced to prison terms for having provided "inaccurate, incomplete and contradictory" information about the danger of the minor tremors felt ahead of 6 April 2009 M6.3 earthquake, leading to the deaths of some 300 persons in and around the historic town of L'Aquila in central Italy.
While we have not examined the wording of the court's decision we must take a stand on what we believe is a flawed judgment that might have a negative impact for the future. Earthquake science is not a magical tool that allows anyone to state with any degree of credible reliability when and where an earthquake with a prescribed size will occur because earthquake occurrence does not conform to a simple and coherent pattern. The interpretation of minor foreshocks to state whether they herald a major earthquake to follow has yet never been done, except in the imagination of publicity seekers with no scientific credentials or on account of pure coincidence. The seven defendants are all well known in their respective professional fields, and enjoy the respect of their peers. We feel that justice has been poorly served, and a dangerous precedent has been established with the verdict. No responsible scientist will henceforth dare to risk his or her professional reputation (not to mention personal well-being) by interpreting signals of activity from volcanoes or possible effects of hurricanes. Forces of nature usually do not lend themselves to easy forecasts, and most are inherently unpredictable.
The communication of risk to the public in a way that it can be easily understood is one of the most difficult challenges facing science and technology. The loss of life that occurred in L'Acquila was tragic and regrettable, but that is attributable to many other causes besides the statement undersigned by the defendants,and the variability of the ground motions that attacked those buildings. The aftermath must not be allowed to turn into a spectacle calling for false culprits to punish in the interest of appeasing the public outrage. Instead, we must draw the right lessons so that there will be no victims in the future in this type of a preventable disaster.
Authored by Jitendra Bothara of New Zealand and Svetlana Brzev of Canada, the tutorial focuses on traditional stone masonry dwellings primarily in the earthquake-prone countries of Asia, explains the underlying causes for their poor seismic performance
and offers techniques for improving both new and existing buildings. A pdf version of the tutorial is available at the World Housing Encyclopedia
website: http://www.world-housing.net/tutorials/stone-tutorials
The production of the tutorial was a collaborative effort among EERI, the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering and the Earthquake Engineering Center of the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan.
The Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme has printed copies of the tutorial for distribution through their program in Asia. The publication will be shared with UNDP country offices, national governments' disaster management ministries and offices, and used in training programs. EERI and the National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur have copies available for the cost of shipping and handling. EERI shipping rates are: $10 to the U.S., $15 to Canada and Mexico, and $20 to other countries. Please contact NICEE (nicee.org) to order the publication from them.
the World Housing Encyclopedia is a joint project of EERI and IAEE. More information is available at the project website: www.world-housing.net.
A fellowship fund has been established in the name of Joseph Penzien to fund and support graduate engineering students enrolled in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Preference will be given to students who have demonstrated financial need and have chosen the field of structural engineering and structural mechanics. The goal is to raise $500,000 to qualify for a named graduate fellowship.
To make a contribution, please send cash/checks to Enid C. Pollack, Sr. Development Director at UC Berkeley College of Engineering, 210 McLaughlin Hall, College of Engineering, Berkeley, CA 94720-1722. Please make checks payable to UC Berkeley College of Engineering and include check memo: Joseph Penzien Memorial Fund. Ms. Pollack can be contacted by phone at 510-642-2257 or by email at epollack@berkeley.edu.
All of the papers in the World Conference on Earthquake Engineering Proceedings from the first WCEE in 1956 to present have been digitized by the National Centre of Earthquake Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur
Papers from all of the World Conferences can be accessed at:
https://www.nicee.org/wcee/index2.php