Agreement signed for collaboration between INGV and NIED
In April 2013, on the occasion of the visit at the Osservatorio Etneo-Sezione di Catania of the INGV by Dr Eisuke Fujita of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) in Japan, a specialist in the field of physical volcanology - a visit aiming at carrying out research in collaboration with the sectors of volcanology and volcano seismology - Drs Mauro Coltelli and Domenico Patanè, Director of the INGV-OE, agreed to promote a closer collaborations between two of the most important research structures in the field of seismology and volcanology.
This proposal, which was promptly and strongly supported by both Prof Stefano Gresta, President of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and Prof Yoshimitsu Okada, President of the NIED, has led to the ratification in Tsukuba, the seat of the NIED, of the agreement for collaboration (Memorandum of Understanding, MoU) between the two institutes.
Like the INGV, the NIED, has since its establishment conducted a number of projects concerning earthquakes, volcanoes, and the environment. In particular, after the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the NIED has profited from the occasion to conduct several major research projects, facilitated by generous funding by the Japanese government in the framework of the prevention and seismic risk reduction policy over the entire Japanese territory. Among the many projects, one of the most noteworthy has permitted the NIED to construct the largest 3-D vibrating table in the world, named “E-defence”, in the town of Miki near Kobe. This permits to analyze, by the simulation of the real conditions of the strongest earthquakes, the 3-D dynamic response of real-size structures and buildings, their rupturing and destruction, allowing thus to calibrate and validate the design of earthquake-resistant structures. In 2007, the CNR IVALSA and other structures carried out an exceptional test on a 7-story edifice constructed in wood with the X-Lam system, showing how this, after 10 consecutive earthquakes, had maintained its structure intact.
Also in the field of volcanology, the NIED, just as the INGV, not only promotes research, but is also involved in the monitoring of the activity of some active Japanese volcaneos, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo, namely Mount Fuji not far from Tokyo, Miyakejima and l’Izu Oshima, these latter two forming islands offshore of the bay of Tokyo.
At the MoU ratification cerimony on 27 July in Tsukuba, held at the NIED headquarters, participated President Prof Yoshimitsu Okada, Dr Eisuke Fujita, Dr Shoji Sekiguchi (Director of the Earthquake and Volcano Research unit), and, representing the INGV, Dr Mauro Coltelli and Dr Domenico Patanè. The cerimony was followed by a visit to the NIED offices and some of its research infrastructures. One of these hosts a 1-D vibrating table, which allows testing on models of structures on a scale of 1:3, which are preparatory to the tests on the 3-D “E-defence” table. Another infrastructure was visited, which represents the largest installation for the simulation of rainfall and its effects on the terrain. This device can produce precipitations with an intensity between 15 and 200 mm/h and is used for research on landslides, torrential debris flows, soil erosion, inundations in urban areas, and so on.
As noted in a comment by the President of the INGV, Prof Stefano Gresta, the agreement “represents an important first step toward the collaboration between the researchers of the two institutes”. In the same sense, the President of the NIED, Prof Yoshimitsu Okada, has commented that the agreement is a great chance to “promote cooperative researches and to exchange our knowledge”, and that the fact that the agreement was signed in the same year that Etna and Fuji volcanoes were contemporaneously declared UNESCO World Heritage can be considered a sign of positive fate.
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Comments on the agreement to conclude MoU between NIED and INGV
Yoshimitsu Okada
President, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Japan
We are delighted to hold a signing ceremony of a MoU between NIED and INGV on July 26, 2013.
Disaster environment surrounding Japan and Italy resembles each other and both countries have long been suffered from the damages by various kinds of natural disaster, especially by earthquakes and volcanoes. We believe it is quite beneficial for both of NIED and INGV to make a framework to promote cooperative researches and to exchange our knowledge.
In 2013, it happened that Mt. Fuji of Japan and Mt. Etna of Italy were simultaneously appointed as one of the World Heritages. This must be a fate to conclude the MoU between NIED and INGV in the same memorable year.
Stefano Gresta
President, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy
As President Okada has mentioned, Japan and Italy have a long story of natural disasters in common. The NIED and the INGV are both institutes of world-class level in the research fields of seismology and volcanology. The signing fo the agreement between NIED and INGV represents an important first step toward the collaboration among researchers from the two institues. The research carried out will produce not only results of scientic interest, but also applications and procedures useful for the reduction of seismic and volcanic risk.