Welcome Message
I am very delighted to inform you that the 5th International Conference on Urban Earthquake Engineering will be held in Tokyo on March 4 and 5, 2008. Since our Center of Excellence (COE) Program entitled “Evolution of Urban Earthquake Engineering” was adopted in 2002 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan, we have held the conference every academic year. As it is the 5-year program sponsored by MEXT, this is the last, but not least, one to be held under the same title.
During the 5 years after the adoption of the program, diversified efforts for reducing urban seismic risks have been made by every member of our group in Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) with a great help from other several collaboration teams. The efforts have been focused on:
- Advanced Technology for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation,
- Renovation Technology for Urban Earthquake Resilience, and
- Strategic Plan for Urban Seismic Risk Reduction.
But we are still facing devastation due to big earthquakes such as Nankai, To-nankai and Tokai earthquakes that are supposedly imminent to occur in and around Japan. And even in recent years, destructive earthquakes and tsunamis have actually occurred in succession inside and outside of Japan, raising new and/or old issues for reducing earthquake-induced tragedy.
With these situations keeping in mind, we are planning to have not only various oral/poster presentations but also special lectures by world-famous invited speakers. We are confident that you will be satisfied with this interdisciplinary forum to share common interests in urban earthquake engineering. We cordially invite you to participate in the conference and look forward to meeting you in Tokyo in March 2008.
Tatsuo Ohmachi
Leader of the COE Program, and
Director of CUEE, Tokyo Tech
