RELEMR/Reduction of Earthquake Losses in E. Mediterrannean

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RELEMR/Reduction of Earthquake Losses in E. Mediterrannean

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RELEMR /Reduction of Earthquake Losses in Eastern Mediterranean

http://www.unesco.org/science/disaster/ ... ster.shtml

PROJECTS REDUCING EARTHQUAKE LOSSES IN THE EASTERN

MEDITERRANEAN REGION (RELEMR)



Background

The Mediterranean region, because of its geological structure, seismicity, active tectonics, topography and climate, has been frequently subjected to natural disasters resulting in great losses of life and property. Field studies and investigations of disasters indicate that large portions of the land surface, population, infrastructure, and industry of the region have been subjected to earthquakes in the past or will be subjected to earthquakes in the future.

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), these earthquakes are associated with the northward movement of the Arabian plate. The 1,000 km long western boundary of the Arabian plate is a complex plate boundary, extending from zones of sea?floor spreading in the Red Sea to zones of plate convergence in Turkey, and lies along the line of the Gulf of Aqaba, the Dead Sea rift, and the Ghab depression. The sense of motion along the Dead Sea transform fault system is left lateral, with the eastern side moving northward relative to the western side. Total displacement is estimated at about 107 km since Oligocene time, with an annual rate of about 0.5 cm. over the last 7 to 10 million years.
On 22 November 1995, an Mw 7.2 earthquake occurred in the central Gulf of Aqaba region causing damage in nearby communities in Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia and was felt for more than 700 km. An aftershock sequence lasted for more than one year with numerous shocks exceeding Ms 5.0. The size of the main shock and some of the aftershocks demonstrates the threat that earthquakes pose to the EMR. These events occurred during RELEMR's (Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region) second Joint Seismic Observing Period (JSOP?II) and therefore we had the ability to accurately locate the earthquake sequence by integrating data from all the national networks in the region. This permitted greatly improved accuracy in epicenter and magnitude determinations. In October 1997, a workshop was hosted by the Cyprus Geological Survey Department to locate the main shock and approximately ten aftershocks.

In the western Mediterranean region, which includes portions of Greece, Italy, Spain and northern Africa, seismicity is widely distributed and there are many seismic hazards. Modern interpretations of this seismicity suggest the existence of seven micro-plates, with seismic activity concentrated at the micro-plate boundaries, which coincide with the Alps, Appenines, and Hellenic arc. Among the most notable recent (1996) seismic events was the M 6.8 earthquake in the historic city of Assisi in the Italian Appenines which destroyed numerous cultural artifacts, including important frescoes.

RELEMR Programme

Based on the PAMERAR programme, UNESCO and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) launched in 1993 the Reducing Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (RELEMR) programme with the purpose of assessing, evaluating and reducing expected earthquake losses in this region. RELEMR is carried out with the European Mediterranean Seismic Centre (EMSC), it is associated with the Council of Europe through the Open Partial Agreement for Major Hazard and it is cooperating with EMR earth science organizations. Countries from the western Mediterranean region have also participated. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) has coordinated the exchange of data among EMR countries and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Observatories and Research Facilities of European Seismology (ORFEUS) have also been cooperating in the program.


Future losses from earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region could be substantially reduced through the integrated implementation of:

• Seismotectonic framework studies using geological, geophysical, geodetic, seismological, archaeological and historical techniques to improve understanding of the cause and nature of the seismicity.

• Earthquake monitoring using modern seismograph networks and strong-motion instrument arrays to determine earthquake parameters and characteristics.

• Assessment of earthquake hazards to estimate locations, recurrence intervals, and effects of future earthquakes.

• Assessment of risks to evaluate potential losses.

• Implementation of earthquake risk reduction measures to reduce vulnerabilities and losses.

Participating countries

Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Kuwait, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Yemen are involved in RELEMR activities.

RELEMR Meetings

The goals of RELEMR workshops are to foster data exchange among countries in the region, to conduct joint activities and experiments that would improve the quality of seismic data, to improve hazard assessments in the Mediterranean region, to improve the dissemination of earthquake engineering data, and ultimately to improve the seismic provisions of building codes in the region.

1. Seismicity and Earthquake Engineering in the Extended Mediterranean Region, Chania, Crete, Greece, 11-17 September 2005

2. Workshop on Seismicity and Seismic Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region, Ankara, Turkey, 26-29 January 2005
3.
Workshop on 'Site Response and Building Response' in Aqaba, Jordan, 18-28 January 2004

4.
International Workshop on 'Seismic Hazard Analysis and Data Exchange in the Mediterranean Region', Nicosia , Cyprus, 10-13 September 2003

5.
International Workshop on 'Seismic Analysis and Earthquake Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region' Antakya, Turkey, 11-14 December 2002

6.
Program For Increasing Technical Capacity on Natural Disaster Reduction in the Mediterranean Region, UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France, 24-25 June 2002

7.
Workshop on Seismic Analysis and Earthquake Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region, Larnaca, Cyprus, 19-22 March 2002

8.
Earthquake Hazard Assessment Practice and Velocity Models and Reference Events in the Mediterranean Region, one-day seminar on Earthquake Hazard Assessment Practice and Development of Probabilistic Hazard Maps in the Mediterranean Region. Santa Susanna, Spain, 20-25 May 2001

9.
Workshop on Lessons learned from Large earthquakes in the Mediterranean |Region; Training course on the use of ground shaking software, Istanbul, Turkey, 22-27 October 2000

10.
Intensive training course on seismic data analysis and Workshop on Seismic Calibration in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Istanbul, Turkey, 21 May-1 June 2000

11.
Workshop on Seismic Hazards in the Mediterranean Region and the Operation of CTBT Auxiliary Seismic Stations, Nicosia, Cyprus, 3-7 May 1999

12.
Planning Workshop on Magnitude Calibration and GSHAP Seismic Hazard Map and Workshop on Seismic Hazards and magnitude calibration in the Easter Mediterranean Region, Istanbul, Turkey, 14-17 October 1998
13.
Regional Workshop on Magnitude Calibration in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Amman, Jordan, 4-7 May 1998

14.
International Workshop on Active Faults and Seismicity of the Gulf of Aqaba, Nicosia, Cyprus, 26-31 October 1997

15.
Workshop on Seismic Monitoring in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Joint Seismic Observing Period - II, Nicosia, Cyprus, 8-11 December 1996

16.
Second Regional Workshop on the Seismicity of the Gulf of Aqaba Region, Amman, Jordan, 3-5 June 1996

17.
Training Course on Seismology and Earthquake Engineering , Advanced Procedures for Hazard and Risk Assessments, Istanbul, Turkey, 2 weeks, November 1995

18.
Workshop on Seismic Monitoring in the Eastern Mediterranean Region - Meeting on the Joint Observation Period - I , Nicosia, Cyprus, 15-19 May 1995

19.
Executive briefing on the Programme for Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Paris, France, 10-11 May 1995

20.
Workshop on seismic network data exchange and post-earthquake investigations, Nicosia, Cyprus, 25-28 April 1994

21.
Workshop on Earthquake Hazards in the Gulf of Aqaba Region, Taba, Egypt, 17-20 April 1994

22.
Seminar on Earthquakes Hazards of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Cairo, Egypt, 16-21 October 1993


23. Malta, in April 2006

###############################################



http://international.usgs.gov/projects/prjrelemr.htm

(((( RELEMR ))))))

Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Leaders: U.S. Geological Survey:

Michael P. Foose, mfoose@usgs.gov

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization:

Soren Malling, s.malling@unesco.org,

Overview:

The Eastern Mediterranean Region has experienced many destructive earthquakes that have caused enormous losses in deaths and injuries, structural damage, and socio-economic disruption. In 1992, the USGS joined with UNESCO to develop a program dedicated to the Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (RELEMR). The purpose of RELEMR was to assess, evaluate, and help reduce expected earthquake losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Since 1991, RELEMR has held more than 17 meetings and three training courses that have been attended by scientists from Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, 8 European countries, and the United States. These meetings have two primary objectives. The first is to better understand the seismicity of the eastern Mediterranean through the exchange of data and cooperative studies. The second is this increased understanding and other geological data to estimate the potential ground shaking intensities that seismic events may produce. These two goals can be subdivided into 4 activities. These are:

1. Seismotectonic framework studies using geological, geophysical, geodetic, seismological archaeological and historical techniques to improve understanding of the cause and nature of the seismicity.

2. Earthquake monitoring using modern seismograph networks and strong-motion instrument arrays to determine earthquake parameters and characteristics.

3. Assessment of earthquake hazard to estimate locations, recurrence intervals and effects of future earthquakes.

4. Assessment of risks to evaluate potential losses

USGS Mission

Tie In: The USGS is committed to using its scientific skills to provide assistance to developing countries. RELEMR returns this commitment by giving the US a better understanding of the seismic hazard to seismically active parts of the US, such as western California.

Discipline: Geology Locations: Eastern Mediterranean Web Sites: Middle East Regional Cooperation
Reducing Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

##############################



http://www.prof-alamri.com/files/muhadrat/RELEMR.pdf

http://www.unesco.org/science/disaster/ ... ster.shtml

PROJECTS REDUCING EARTHQUAKE LOSSES IN
THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION (RELEMR)


________________________________________


Background
The Mediterranean region, because of its geological structure, seismicity, active tectonics, topography and climate, has been frequently subjected to natural disasters resulting in great losses of life and property. Field studies and investigations of disasters indicate that large portions of the land surface, population, infrastructure, and industry of the region have been subjected to earthquakes in the past or will be subjected to earthquakes in the future.
In the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), these earthquakes are associated with the northward movement of the Arabian plate. The 1,000 km long western boundary of the Arabian plate is a complex plate boundary, extending from zones of sea?floor spreading in the Red Sea to zones of plate convergence in Turkey, and lies along the line of the Gulf of Aqaba, the Dead Sea rift, and the Ghab depression. The sense of motion along the Dead Sea transform fault system is left lateral, with the eastern side moving northward relative to the western side. Total displacement is estimated at about 107 km since Oligocene time, with an annual rate of about 0.5 cm. over the last 7 to 10 million years.
On 22 November 1995, an Mw 7.2 earthquake occurred in the central Gulf of Aqaba region causing damage in nearby communities in Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia and was felt for more than 700 km. An aftershock sequence lasted for more than one year with numerous shocks exceeding Ms 5.0. The size of the main shock and some of the aftershocks demonstrates the threat that earthquakes pose to the EMR. These events occurred during RELEMR's (Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region) second Joint Seismic Observing Period (JSOP?II) and therefore we had the ability to accurately locate the earthquake sequence by integrating data from all the national networks in the region. This permitted greatly improved accuracy in epicenter and magnitude determinations. In October 1997, a workshop was hosted by the Cyprus Geological Survey Department to locate the main shock and approximately ten aftershocks.
In the western Mediterranean region, which includes portions of Greece, Italy, Spain and northern Africa, seismicity is widely distributed and there are many seismic hazards. Modern interpretations of this seismicity suggest the existence of seven micro-plates, with seismic activity concentrated at the micro-plate boundaries, which coincide with the Alps, Appenines, and Hellenic arc. Among the most notable recent (1996) seismic events was the M 6.8 earthquake in the historic city of Assisi in the Italian Appenines which destroyed numerous cultural artifacts, including important frescoes.

RELEMR Programme
Based on the PAMERAR programme, UNESCO and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) launched in 1993 the Reducing Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (RELEMR) programme with the purpose of assessing, evaluating and reducing expected earthquake losses in this region. RELEMR is carried out with the European Mediterranean Seismic Centre (EMSC), it is associated with the Council of Europe through the Open Partial Agreement for Major Hazard and it is cooperating with EMR earth science organizations. Countries from the western Mediterranean region have also participated. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) has coordinated the exchange of data among EMR countries and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Observatories and Research Facilities of European Seismology (ORFEUS) have also been cooperating in the program.
Future losses from earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region could be substantially reduced through the integrated implementation of:
• Seismotectonic framework studies using geological, geophysical, geodetic, seismological, archaeological and historical techniques to improve understanding of the cause and nature of the seismicity.

• Earthquake monitoring using modern seismograph networks and strong-motion instrument arrays to determine earthquake parameters and characteristics.

• Assessment of earthquake hazards to estimate locations, recurrence intervals, and effects of future earthquakes.

• Assessment of risks to evaluate potential losses.

• Implementation of earthquake risk reduction measures to reduce vulnerabilities and losses.

Participating countries
Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Kuwait, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Yemen are involved in RELEMR activities.
RELEMR Meetings
The goals of RELEMR workshops are to foster data exchange among countries in the region, to conduct joint activities and experiments that would improve the quality of seismic data, to improve hazard assessments in the Mediterranean region, to improve the dissemination of earthquake engineering data, and ultimately to improve the seismic provisions of building codes in the region.
1. Seismicity and Earthquake Engineering in the Extended Mediterranean Region, Chania, Crete, Greece, 11-17 September 2005
2.
Workshop on Seismicity and Seismic Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region, Ankara, Turkey, 26-29 January 2005
3.
Workshop on 'Site Response and Building Response' in Aqaba, Jordan, 18-28 January 2004
4.
International Workshop on 'Seismic Hazard Analysis and Data Exchange in the Mediterranean Region', Nicosia , Cyprus, 10-13 September 2003
5.
International Workshop on 'Seismic Analysis and Earthquake Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region' Antakya, Turkey, 11-14 December 2002
6.
Program For Increasing Technical Capacity on Natural Disaster Reduction in the Mediterranean Region, UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France, 24-25 June 2002
7.
Workshop on Seismic Analysis and Earthquake Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region, Larnaca, Cyprus, 19-22 March 2002
8.
Earthquake Hazard Assessment Practice and Velocity Models and Reference Events in the Mediterranean Region, one-day seminar on Earthquake Hazard Assessment Practice and Development of Probabilistic Hazard Maps in the Mediterranean Region. Santa Susanna, Spain, 20-25 May 2001
9.
Workshop on Lessons learned from Large earthquakes in the Mediterranean |Region; Training course on the use of ground shaking software, Istanbul, Turkey, 22-27 October 2000
10.
Intensive training course on seismic data analysis and Workshop on Seismic Calibration in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Istanbul, Turkey, 21 May-1 June 2000
11.
Workshop on Seismic Hazards in the Mediterranean Region and the Operation of CTBT Auxiliary Seismic Stations, Nicosia, Cyprus, 3-7 May 1999
12.
Planning Workshop on Magnitude Calibration and GSHAP Seismic Hazard Map and Workshop on Seismic Hazards and magnitude calibration in the Easter Mediterranean Region, Istanbul, Turkey, 14-17 October 1998
13.
Regional Workshop on Magnitude Calibration in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Amman, Jordan, 4-7 May 1998
14.
International Workshop on Active Faults and Seismicity of the Gulf of Aqaba, Nicosia, Cyprus, 26-31 October 1997
15.
Workshop on Seismic Monitoring in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Joint Seismic Observing Period - II, Nicosia, Cyprus, 8-11 December 1996
16.
Second Regional Workshop on the Seismicity of the Gulf of Aqaba Region, Amman, Jordan, 3-5 June 1996
17.
Training Course on Seismology and Earthquake Engineering , Advanced Procedures for Hazard and Risk Assessments, Istanbul, Turkey, 2 weeks, November 1995
18.
Workshop on Seismic Monitoring in the Eastern Mediterranean Region - Meeting on the Joint Observation Period - I , Nicosia, Cyprus, 15-19 May 1995
19.
Executive briefing on the Programme for Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Paris, France, 10-11 May 1995
20.
Workshop on seismic network data exchange and post-earthquake investigations, Nicosia, Cyprus, 25-28 April 1994
21.
Workshop on Earthquake Hazards in the Gulf of Aqaba Region, Taba, Egypt, 17-20 April 1994
22.
Seminar on Earthquakes Hazards of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Cairo, Egypt, 16-21 October 1993
Next meeting
The RELEMR meeting was held in Malta, in April 2006.
The coming meeting will be in Madrid Spain December 2007


http://portal.unesco.org/ios/fileadmin/ ... hquake.pdf

Title of Action /
Activity / Intervention
Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Enlarged
Mediterranean Region (RELEMR)
Please explain your
choice
Successful initiative in a environment politically
problematical
Sources of funds (RP or
EB or both). Please
specify budget code.
US donation and RP
Background and
description:
•beneficiaries,
•special
considerations, etc.
Since 1993 UNESCO and the United States Geological
Survey have been cooperating with European and Eastern
Mediterranean Region earth sciences institutions under
RELEMR. The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center
(EMSC) coordinates the exchange of seismic data, the
European Council, the Livermore National Laboratory
(LLNL, USA), the Observatories and Research Facilities of
European Seismology (ORFEUS) has also collaborated.
Initialy focused on the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the
programme has been extended to the whole Mediterranean
seismotectonic region.
The participating countries include Algeria, Armenia, Cyprus,
Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, the Palestinian Authority, Turkey, United
States of America, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain,
Tunisia, Yemen,
Expected Result(s)
to foster data exchange among countries in the region,
to conduct joint activities and experiments that would
improve the quality of seismic data
to improve hazard assessments in the Mediterranean region,
to improve the dissemination of earthquake engineering data,
and ultimately to improve the seismic provisions of building
codes in the region
Performance Indicators
Seismic information shared
Joint validation and verification of seismic data
Training to last methods and procedure for seismic hazard
assessment and mitigation
Strategies employed
(include parts played by
partners)
Workshops,
training courses,
joint scientific experiments
Result(s) obtained
Workshops held :
14th RELEMR Meeting - Seismic Analysis and Earthquake
Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region, Larnaca ,
March 2002. The Workshop included a training session on
“Understanding and aApplying Probabilistic Seismic Hazard
Analysis”
15th RELEMR Meeting - Program For Increasing Technical
Capacity on Natural Disaster Reductio n in the Mediterranean
Region (PILAR), Planning Meeting, Paris, France, 24-25 June
2002
16th RELEMR Meeting - Technical Meeting , Genova, Italy,
1-6 September 2002
17th RELEMR Meeting - International Workshop on Seismic
Analysis and Earthquake Hazard Assessment, Antakya,
Turkey, 11-14 December 2002
18th RELEMR Meeting - Seismic Analysis and Earthquake
Hazard Assessment in the Mediterranean Region, Nicosia,
Cyprus, 10-13 September 2003
The 14th-18th RELEMR workshops continued efforts
addressed before in the field of seismic calibration, data
exchange, regional hazards mapping.
Compare ‘levels’
actually attained to the
targets noted in the
performance indicators
5 meetings a biennium is a good average to enable an efficient
follow-up of activities.
The results completed are satisfactory
Any particular reasons
for the achievements or
non-achievements:
•participatory
processes,
•innovations,
•learning from
experiences in other
initiatives,
•employing best
practices, etc.
The strong involvement of motivated individuals and
institutions under the umbrella of UNESCO are making
possible this initiative
Replicability examples
if any, or potential
A similar programme is under development in the Asian
Region
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