THE WORKSHOP
The workshop was held at the office of the Joint Council on Seismology and Earthquake Engineering in Moscow from September 9 through 13, 1991. A one-day field trip was made to Obninsk on September 12 to visit the U.S.S.R. National Earthquake Data Center. Appendix A shows the U.S. and U.S.S.R. delegations’ membership and Appendix B is the workshop agenda.
Workshop participants spent the first one and one-half days sharing their research activities through general presentations. The participants were then divided into two groups: Group 1 on seismology and geotechnology and Group 2 on earthquake engineering and societal response. The purpose of the groups was to identify and discuss in more detail topics of common interest. Appendices C, D, and E present the topics identified by the participants. They are organized as: Appendix C: Seismology and Geotechnology; Appendix D: Architectural and Structural Engineering; and Appendix E: Societal Responses.
The workshop was visited by General Udaltsov, a member of the Joint Council on Seismology and Earthquake Engineering, who was responsible for the response and reconstruction phases of the Spital earthquake and for the preparation of a 15-volume report on that earthquake. General Udaltsov discussed the possibility of producing an English language translation that could be printed in the United States. Also discussed was the possibility of preparing an executive summary volume that could be translated into English and published in the United States. It was agreed that General Udaltsov would provide a list of the titles of the 15 volumes, which could be used for further consideration when the delegation returned to the United States. Further, both sides agreed that it would be desirable for the Soviet Union to develop and do the preliminary translation of this summary volume and for the U.S. NAS to explore the financial feasibility of editing and publishing this volume for wider dissemination.
The delegations were also received by Professor N.Laverov, Vice President of ASUSSR, who expressed his full support of this effort between the two countries.
It is agreed that on the U.S.S.R. side, the Joint Council on Seismology and Earthquake Engineering, as an interagency representative of the ASUSSR, will coordinate the participation of the U.S.S.R. researchers including those from the ASUSSR’s institutions, from the State Committee for Construction (GOSSTROY), and from the republics’ Academies of Sciences and universities. On the U.S. side, the NAS will assist in identifying individual researchers or institutions who are interested in jointly conducting studies of the topics listed above. It was felt to be important to the success of the cooperative program that researchers from the two countries become personally acquainted before research projects are undertaken. This could be accomplished by attendance at conferences, such as the 10th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, which will be held in Madrid, Spain, in July 1992, or by exchanging visits to research laboratories and universities.
Financial support for joint activities should be sought by the research teams of both countries through potential funding agencies in their respective countries. It is believed that the exchange visits of young researchers will be an important element of cooperative research programs and should be included in proposals, if possible.
