Annual Meeting - SCEC.org

Poster Abstracts | Group 1 – CEO
Catcher Network) as part of the “faux” earthquake experience. Other exhibits will explore the San
Andreas Fault, its causes and its effect on California geology, biology and culture. We will also
present current research in earthquake science using interviews with a variety of scientists and
engineers. The Hall will also be the only static educational venue whereby “The Great Southern
California Shakeout” themes and information will remain readily available to the public, long after
the exercise is completed.
1-010
EDUCATION FOR EARTHQUAKE DISASTER PREVENTION IN THE TOKYO
METROPOLITAN AREA Oki S, Tsuji H, Koketsu K, and Yazaki Y
Japan frequently suffers from all types of disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic
eruptions, and landslides. In the first half of this year, we already had three big quakes and a heavy
rainfall, which killed more than 20 people. This is not just for Japan but Asia is the most disasterafflicted
region in the world, accounting for about 90% of all those affected by disasters, and more
than 50% of the total fatalities and economic losses.
One of the most essential ways to reduce the damage of natural disasters is to educate general
public to let them understand what is going on during earthquakes, typhoons, and so on. This
leads individual to make the sound decision on what to do to prevent or reduce the damage. The
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), therefore, offered for
public subscription to choose several model areas to adopt scientific education to the local
elementary schools.
ERI, the Earthquake Research Institute, is qualified by MEXT to develop education for earthquake
disaster prevention in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The subduction of the Philippine Sea plate
beneath this region causes mega-thrust earthquakes such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M 8.0)
and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M 7.9) which had 105,000 fatalities. A magnitude 7 or greater
earthquake beneath this area is recently evaluated to occur with a probability of 70 % in 30 years.
This is of immediate concern for the devastating loss of life and property because the Tokyo urban
region now has a population of 42 million and is the center of approximately 40 % of the nation's
activities, which may cause great global economic repercussion. To better understand earthquakes
in this region, “Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area” has
been conducted as a 4-year-project mainly initiated by ERI to develop a high-density network with
400 sites at local elementary schools. We start our education project by using the real seismographs
observed at their own schoolyards, emphasizing the reality and causality of earthquake disaster.
1-011
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS FROM HIGH SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF AROUND THE
COUNTRY EXPLORE THE GEOLOGIC HAZARDS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Cooke ML, Marshall ST, Dair L, Kendrick KJ, Morton D, Dolan JF, and de Groot R
Earth system students and teachers from 7 high schools around the US came to southern California
May 4-10 for a field trip led by Cooke, a deaf geoscientist from the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst. All the participating students on the trip conducted experiments on fault systems at their
home schools using a deformational sandbox model developed by Cooke. The expedition gave the
students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to apply knowledge gained from their classroom studies
to actual sites in the field.
The theme for the California trip was “Geological Hazards and Society.” The students, teachers,
and geologists visited areas in the Lone Pine Canyon, Palm Desert, the San Bernardino Mountains,
74 | Southern California Earthquake Center