9528882 Moehle This project provides support to initiate, develop and implement a cooperative US-Japan workshop to study the Kobe earthquake of January 1995. The Great Hanshin, i.e. Kobe earthquake struck the area surrounding the city of Kobe Japan on 17 January 1995. The epicenter of this moment magnitude 6.9 event was about 20 km southwest of downtown Kobe. Roughly 40-km strike-slip rupture extended directly under the city. The event left more than 5000 people dead, with tens of thousands of structures destroyed by ground shaking and subsequent fire. Parallels have been drawn to possible scenarios for urban earthquakes in the United States. The Great Hanshin earthquake therefore offers an opportunity for the United States to learn and become better prepared for future earthquakes. A systematic exchange with Japanese researchers, engineers, and planners is desirable so that counterparts in the United States can best learn the lessons of this earthquake as they apply to the United States. This project is to open that dialogue by conducting a seminar in Japan and a follow-up workshop in the United States. These activities will include presentations of findings related to this earthquake, identification of research needs, and in-depth discussions on how to take advantage of the data made available to the research community in the United States. The reports will include a recommended research agenda for such subjects as structural design, repair/retrofit, seismic reconstruction, preparedness and emergency responses, etc. These recommendations will form the basis for future funding priorities for cooperative research with Japan by the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies in the United States. ***
