Turkey, Japan cooperate in earthquake engineering

Under this scheme, a governmental organization from the host country can organize a training program for other neighboring developing countries on specified subjects with assistance provided by the Japanese government.

Since one of JICA’s important areas for assistance in Turkey is reconstruction of earthquake disaster zones and the strengthening of disaster prevention systems, several programs for Turkey such as the Earthquake Disaster Prevention Research Center, Seismic Microzonation and Country-focused Training Course on Disaster Management/Disaster Mitigation have been conducted. In addition, a disaster management training project for top-level officials was launched on Sept. 29 in cooperation with the Interior Ministry.

Both Japan and Turkey are subject to severe and frequent earthquakes. Over the years the two countries have faced numerous earthquakes and have gained expertise in the area of earthquake engineering.

The Earthquake Disaster Prevention Research Center project was run by JICA for eight years from 1993 to 2000 in cooperation with the General Directorate of Disaster Affairs and ITU. The knowledge and experience gained through the project have reached such a level that they can now be shared on an international basis.

With respect to an official request from the Turkish government, the government of Japan has decided to support the Earthquake Training Center at ITU in organizing a training program for neighboring developing countries in the area of earthquake engineering. A second course will be held at ITU’s Ayazaga campus between Oct. 13-23 with the participation of 20 civil engineers from 11 countries: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The opening ceremony will be held on Oct. 13 at 10:30 a.m. at the ITU Structural and Earthquake Research Center.