by Julius S6lnes An Advanced Study Institute on engineering seismology and earthquake engineering was held in Izrrir, 'rurkey July 2-13, 1973 under the auspices of the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO. The Institute was organized by an organizing committee headed by the two scientific directors and with representation by the Turkish National Science Foundation, Turkish National Committee for Earthquake Engineering, the Middle East Technical University and the Aegean University. 93 scientists and engineers of 18 countries took part in the work of the Institute which comprised 10 working days with lectures, discussions and panel meetings. The main lecture topics of the Institute were covered in five main sections: 1. Generic causes of earthquakes. 2. Ground motion and foundation response. 3. Earthquake response of structures and design consi derations. 4. Codes and regulations; implementation. 5. Earthquake hazards and emergency planning. Upon completion of each section, general discussion and short presentations by several of the participants took place and summary statements were offered by the main lecturers. The atmosphere of the meetings was in- VI formal and cordial thus giving rise to many unorthodox and newly conceived ideas.

Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12, Disaster Deferred revisits these earthquakes, the legends that have grown around them, and the predictions of doom that have followed in their wake. Seth Stein clearly explains the techniques seismologists use to study Midwestern quakes and estimate their danger.

Earthquakes, nuclear accidents, and floods were among the many unexpected tragedies that struck the Soviet Union over its history. Requiring the immediate mobilization of vast resources and aid, and embedded within a specific context and time, these catastrophes provide critical insights into the nature of the twentieth-century Communist state. All Shook Up takes a close look at the representation in film, the political repercussions, and the social opportunities of large-scale catastrophes in separate Soviet epochs, including the 1927 earthquake in the Crimean peninsula, the 1948 earthquake in Ashgabat, the Tashkent earthquake in 1966, the Chernobyl explosion in 1986, and the Armenian earthquake in 1988. Juxtaposing various disaster responses and demonstrating the ways both Soviet authorities and citizens molded them to their own cultural needs, Nigel Raab highlights the radical shifts in disaster policy from one leader to the next. Given the opportunity to act outside regular parameters, Soviet residents not only rebuilt their devastated cities, but also experimented with new values and crafted their own worldview while the state struggled to return the situation to normal. Based on archival research conducted in Russia and Ukraine, All Shook Up fills a gap in a global literature and challenges stereotypical representations of the Soviet Union as a monolithic state.

Describes the Armenian earthquake of 1988 and its historical, political, and cultural aspects.

In September 1923, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated eastern Japan, killing more than 120,000 people and leaving two million homeless. Using a rich array of source material, J. Charles Schencking tells for the first time the graphic tale of Tokyo's destruction and rebirth. In emotive prose, he documents how the citizens of Tokyo experienced this unprecedented calamity and explores the ways in which it rattled people's deep-seated anxieties about modernity. While explaining how and why the disaster compelled people to reflect on Japanese society, he also examines how reconstruction encouraged the capital's inhabitants to entertain new types of urbanism as they rebuilt their world. Some residents hoped that a grandiose metropolis, reflecting new values, would rise from the ashes of disaster-ravaged Tokyo. Many, however, desired a quick return of the city they once called home. Opportunistic elites advocated innovative state infrastructure to better manage the daily lives of Tokyo residents. Others focused on rejuvenating society--morally, economically, and spiritually--to combat the perceived degeneration of Japan. Schencking explores the inspiration behind these dreams and the extent to which they were realized. He investigates why Japanese citizens from all walks of life responded to overtures for renewal with varying degrees of acceptance, ambivalence, and resistance. His research not only sheds light on Japan's experience with and interpretation of the earthquake but challenges widespread assumptions that disasters unite stricken societies, creating a "blank slate" for radical transformation. National reconstruction in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake, Schencking demonstrates, proved to be illusive.

The theory of plate tectonics transformed earth science. The hypothesis that the earth’s outermost layers consist of mostly rigid plates that move over an inner surface helped describe the growth of new seafloor, confirm continental drift, and explain why earthquakes and volcanoes occur in some places and not others. Lynn R. Sykes played a key role in the birth of plate tectonics, conducting revelatory research on earthquakes. In this book, he gives an invaluable insider’s perspective on the theory’s development and its implications. Sykes combines lucid explanation of how plate tectonics revolutionized geology with unparalleled personal reflections. He entered the field when it was on the cusp of radical discoveries. Studying the distribution and mechanisms of earthquakes, Sykes pioneered the identification of seismic gaps—regions that have not ruptured in great earthquakes for a long time—and methods to estimate the possibility of quake recurrence. He recounts the various phases of his career, including his antinuclear activism, and the stories of colleagues around the world who took part in changing the paradigm. Sykes delves into the controversies over earthquake prediction and their importance, especially in the wake of the giant 2011 Japanese earthquake and the accompanying Fukushima disaster. He highlights geology’s lessons for nuclear safety, explaining why historic earthquake patterns are crucial to understanding the risks to power plants. Plate Tectonics and Great Earthquakes is the story of a scientist witnessing a revolution and playing an essential role in making it.

A human disaster is defined as a hazardous event that overwhelms the capacity of the local community to respond to the needs of the affected population. Medical and public health responses aim to provide care efficiently and promptly but all too often, responses are hampered by recurring mistakes. Analysing the factors at play such as the scale and frequency of disasters and the variety of challenges they present, is central to developing more effective response plans. However the complexity of disasters often precludes reliable data collection, hampering the accuracy of the results, conclusions and recommendations required to improve responses. Disaster Evaluation Research: A field guide presents a new approach to the study of disaster by incorporating a mixed-methods research approach. This practical manual provides a range of reliable methods, robust approaches and proven techniques for the gathering and analyzing of data. Written by leading evaluation scientists with a wealth of experience, the authors present their 'EIGHT Step Model' for disaster evaluation studies. This framework applies evaluation science to disaster responses, helping scientists to select key stakeholders effectively, write evaluation questions, use logic models and mixed-methods research design, prepare sampling plans, collect and analyse data, and prepare a final report. This guide also features useful tools for carrying out evaluations including; evaluation questions, indicators and data sources, resources, and questionnaires used in past evaluation studies. Using a clear, accessible and step-by-step style this practical manual is easy to use in the field and essential reading for medical and public health professionals involved in disaster preparedness and response, humanitarian relief workers, policy analysts, evaluation scientists and epidemiologists.

More than half of the disasters chronicled are natural. These floods, storms, droughts, blizzards, famines and epidemics are fierce reminders that humankind is no match for the devastating force and fury of nature. From the Great Influenza Epidemic of WWI that took nearly 40 million lives to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, there are numerous accounts of catastrophes that could not be averted, and whose destructive power was beyond imagining.