Recent Destructive Earthquakes and International Collaboration for Seismic Hazard Assessment

Abstract

Recent destructive earthquakes in East Asia, such as the 1976 Tangshan, 1995 Kobe, 1999 Chi-Chi, 2008 Wenchuan, 2010 Yushu, 2011 Tohoku, and 2013 Ya’an-Lushan earthquakes, claimed one third of a million lives. Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (SHA) can help define earthquake zones and guide urban planning and construction based on statistical seismology, geophysics, and geodesy. The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) has promoted SHA as a national mission in Japan over the last 10 years, and as an international cooperation with neighboring countries since the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. We initiated the China-Japan-Korea SHA strategic cooperative program for the next generation map supported by MOST-JST-NRF in 2010. We also initiated collaborative programs with the committee of the Taiwan Earthquake Model from 2012, as well as with many other parties. Consequently, the NIED, with its highly valuated SHA methodologies and technologies, proudly joined the Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM). Our international activities in East Asia could become one of the GEMRegional Programs. By examination of SHA maps using the Tohoku earthquake data set, some improvements and reconsiderations are made.