Report of the 2nd G-EVER International Symposium and the 1st IUGS and SCJ International Workshop on Natural Hazards and the “Sendai Agreement”

Abstract

The 2nd G-EVER International Symposium and the 1st IUGS & SCJ International Workshop on Natural Hazards aimed to encourage extensive discussions on the present situation of natural disaster mitigation of earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption and landslide in the Asia and Pacific regions. The discussions included (1) prioritization of important researches to make society strong and resilient, (2) development of suitable hazard maps which are essential to society and Asia-Pacific scale hazard assessment activities, and (3) the importance of contributions to solid earth science. There were also discussions on the mitigation processes needed in the next-decade to reduce the risks of natural hazards. The 2nd G-EVER International Symposium and the 1st IUGS & SCJ International Workshop on Natural Hazards was held in Sendai, Tohoku, Japan on Oct. 19-20, 2013 (Fig. 1). The symposium was organized by the G-EVER Consortium, Geological Survey of Japan, AIST, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and Science Council of Japan (SCJ). It was co-organized by the Geological Society of Japan and the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP). Tohoku University, Disaster Prevention Research Institutes (DPRI) of Kyoto University, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), GNS Science, Philippine Institute of Volcanology & Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the Seismological Society of Japan, the Volcanological Society of Japan, Japan Association for Quaternary Research, Japanese Society for Active Fault Studies, Japan Society of Engineering Geology, and Tokyo Geographical Society supported the symposium (Fig. 2). The Asia-Pacific Region is an area with a high risk of catastrophic natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. In today’s highly globalized economy, when a major disaster occurs, it can create unpredictable turmoil not just in the affected area but also the rest of the world. Countermeasures against these natural disasters are crucial for the sustainable development. We believe that continuous efforts to develop an effective international framework to reduce the risk of natural disasters are very important. It is expected that geological institutions will collaborate and create a system to gather and process information to formulate disaster mitigation measures in the Asia-Pacific Region. This system must be easy to use and freely accessible to the public to meet societal needs. The Sumatra earthquake of December 26, 2004 and Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011 clearly show the urgency of developing an information and knowledge system for infrequent natural hazards. We also have to recognize that smaller events could have adverse effect to society. For example, the magnitude of the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake was just 6.3 (ML), but caused major damage to the second largest city of New Zealand and 185 casualties. Volcanic ash ejected from the Eyjafjallajokull eruptions in Iceland on April 2000 caused more than 20,000 airline flight cancellations a day in Europe, resulting to the largest air-traffic shut-down since World War II. The IATA estimated that airline companies lost US$200 million a day during the shut-down. After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, more efforts for the prevention and reduction of the risks of natural disasters have been made all over the world. The G-EVER Consortium promotes natural disaster risk reduction activities through the collaboration different research institutes worldwide. The consortium’s major activities are the following: 1. Establish a framework for cooperation of research institutes and organizations working on volcanic disaster prevention in the AsiaPacific region.