MEMORANDUM OF DISCUSSION
U.S.-U.S.S.R. JOINT MEETING ON EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS MITIGATION
September 9–13, 1991, Moscow, U.S.S.R.
This joint meeting was held as part of the inter-academy protocol between the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences signed in the spring of 1989.
INTRODUCTION
Devastating earthquakes have occurred frequently in both countries. When they happened, these earthquakes caused the loss of lives, the destruction of numerous buildings and structures, and resulted in severe economic losses in billions of dollars. Examples of such earthquakes are the December 10, 1988 magnitude 6.9 Spitak earthquake in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) and the October 17, 1989 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake in California, United States. The desire to share the lessons learned from past earthquakes and the belief that our current knowledge base, when properly implemented, can effectively reduce earthquakes’ impacts on our societies. The willingness to work together on topics of common interest to fill in knowledge gaps led to the decision by both the U.S. National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering (hereafter NAS) and the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences (hereafter ASUSSR) to conduct this joint workshop on earthquake hazard mitigation.*
Historically, scientists from both countries have been working together on studies of earthquake mechanisms, installation of seismic networks, and interpretation of data. However, both sides agree that effective reduction of the impact of future earthquakes needs an integrated system approach that includes the close cooperation of experts from different disciplines: seismology, engineering seismology, earthquake and geotechnical engineering, social and political sciences, economics, and emergency management. To effectively mitigate the earthquake hazards also requires a society’s ability to focus on key issues in planning, preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, and reconstruction. The objectives of this joint workshop are to share our knowledge in earthquake hazards mitigation and to jointly develop a list of broadly based topics for the future collaboration of researchers in both countries.
The workshop was financially supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the ASUSSR and was carried out by the staff of the Joint Council on Seismology and Earthquake Engineering.