Report of the Observer Panel for the U.S.-Japan Earthquake Policy Symposium (1997)

This chapter describes the outcome from the September 1996 Earthquake Policy Symposium in the context of existing bilateral agreements between the United States and Japan for reducing earthquake losses. These programs have emphasized collaboration on scientific and technical issues and have largely involved personnel from government research agencies. Some have been in existence for more than 30 years. They have been complemented by long-standing cooperative research efforts involving the United States and Japan and other countries that are vulnerable to seismic hazards (e.g., Mexico, China).

As described below, and summarized in Box 1, the United States-Japan cooperation falls under three broad initiatives: the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science Program, the Japan-U.S. Science and Technology Agreement, and the Common Agenda. Following the discussion of these programs, the new agreements from the Policy Symposium are described.

Within the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science Program, the U.S.-Japan Program on Natural Resources (UJNR) is the oldest mechanism for scientific and technical cooperation between the United States and Japan on earthquakes. The UJNR has sponsored three ongoing intergovernmental panels related to seismic hazards operating through 19 federal agencies: the Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects, the Panel on Fire Research and Safety, and the Panel on Earthquake Prediction Technology. Through their activities, these panels have sponsored a

range of international forums with published proceedings, programs for exchange of guest researchers, joint research projects, and technical data exchanges.

Initiated in 1988, and renewed in 1993, JUST is a wide-ranging program for promoting cooperation to address problems related to natural resources, energy, space and ocean development, biotechnology, and environmental protection. Within JUST there are two natural disaster initiatives:

1. Workshops on Natural Disaster Reduction. These meetings have been sponsored by the National Science and Technology Council (U.S.) and the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (Japan). They have focused on opportunities for cooperative research, and they have generated Internet-accessible databases of research results, abstracts, and references on disaster reduction.

2. Highway Science and Technology Program. This agreement between the Federal Highway Administration (U.S.) and the Ministry of Construction's Public Works Research Institute (Japan) provides a foundation for exchanging scientific information and technology related to the construction of highway structures and surfaces.

Initiated by President Clinton and then Prime Minister Murayama in 1993, the Common Agenda is a broad framework for partnership and collaboration between the United States and Japan. Within the Common Agenda, there are two initiatives related to seismic hazards:

1. Research Cooperation in Construction Technology. Coordinated by the National Science Foundation (U.S.) and the Ministry of Construction's Building Research Institute (Japan), this initiative supports collaborative research and

exchange programs on advanced engineering technology to reduce the impact of seismic hazards.

2. Natural Disaster Reduction. This initiative has three components:

• A Pan-Pacific Natural Disaster Watch Network is to provide a comprehensive system for surveillance and prediction of disasters in the Pacific region (e.g., volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and severe weather).

• The U.S.-Japan Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Partnership involves collaboration between the Science and Technology Agency (Japan) and a United States interagency group to focus on scientific and technical issues of seismic hazard mitigation. Within the partnership, research will be focused on:

1. Quantifying future earthquake potential

2. Strengthening loss estimation methods

3. Testing basic theories of the earthquake source

4. Understanding near-source motions, geologic effects, and structural response

5. Reducing the risks posed by steel buildings

6. Strengthening evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings and infrastructure

7. Developing performance-based design methods

8. Improved real-time seismic information systems

9. Controlling post-earthquake fires

Recently, a U.S.-Japan Universities Coalition for Earthquake Research has been proposed as a separate component of the Disaster Mitigation Partnership. Sponsored by the Ministry of Education (Japan) and the National Science Foundation (U.S.), it would focus on greater collaboration between universities in fundamental research and improved training of earthquake scientists and engineers.

• The Natural Disaster Reduction Initiative called for two high-level U.S.-Japan Earthquake Policy Symposiums, one

in the United States and one in Japan. The first of these meetings, held September 16–18, 1996, in Washington D.C., is the subject of this report.

In addition to these agreements, informal cooperative activities occur through professional societies, academia, private industry, and local governments.

The Joint Statement of Conclusions and Recommendations from the Earthquake Policy Symposium (Appendix D) establishes a new mechanism for bilateral cooperation between the United States and Japan in reducing earthquake losses. Specifically, items 6 and 7 of the conclusions state:

Compared to existing cooperative agreements between the United States and Japan on earthquake issues, this proposal contains two important new features:

1. For the first time, a High-Level forum will provide a basis for cabinet-level discussions of earthquake issues between the two countries.

2. A Working Group will be formed to facilitate collaboration on policy issues related to earthquake mitigation, response, and recovery.

The panel observes that there are many opportunities for collaborative work between the United States and Japan to reduce earthquake losses. Comparing the outcomes of the Symposium with existing agreements, the panel strongly endorses the initiative for collaboration on policy decisions. The panel believes that this represents an important new approach with opportunities to integrate the efforts of existing scientific and technical programs into a comprehensive framework in support of new policies for mitigating seismic hazards.