By Dr. Toshiaki Yokoi & Mr. Mizuo Inukai of IISEE

IISEE in cooperation with JICA will implement the second round of Latin American Earthquake Engineering Course from May 25 to July 25. The teaching language of this short course is Spanish. IISEE has agreed with JICA that 16 participants in total will be invited from Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. They will study in IISEE located in Tsukuba, Japan for 6 weeks and then move to San Salvador. There they will have a chance to participate in the structural tests using the local materials and the popular methods of construction in Latin America.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 1.

(1) Mr. Kyaw Kyaw LIN (Myanmar, Seismology Course )

The study trip to Kansai District (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe Prefectures) and Awaji Island from 13-16 April, 2015 was one of the most interesting and memorable things that happened during my whole stay in Japan.

Please see the Newsletter attached on pages 1&2.

(2) Ms. Nadia Eda MACAVILCA ROJAS (Peru, Seismology Course)

On April 13 to 16, Seismology class visited Uemachi and Nojima active faults in Osaka and Awaji Cities respectively. We walked along Uemachi fault in Osaka, and visited the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution (Kobe) and the Nojima Fault Preservation Museum in (Awaji).

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 2.

(3) Ms. Mary Criss SUAREZ ANTUNEZ (Peru, Earthquake Engineering Course)

We went to Kansai area for a Study Trip. We learned about the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu (Kobe) Earthquake, the importance of measures adopted by the Japanese Government and the cooperation within the local community.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 2.


(4) Ms. Kathrine Anne Malabuyoc CAILING (Philippines, Earthquake Engineering Course)

The study trip to Kansai District last April 13-16, 2015 was a great experience. The chance to witness the construction site of retrofitting works by base isolation of the Osaka Prefectural Government Building was indeed informative and at the same time enjoyable.

Please see the Newsletter attached on pages 2&3.


(5) Mr. Karl Vincent Colobong SORIANO (Philippines, Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Course)

In 1854, a strong earthquake shook Hirokawa village, and Mr. Goryo Hamaguchi realized that a tsunami might come and told the people to evacuate into the higher grounds. As the night falls and darkness surrounds the village, he put the rice sheaves on fire so that the people who are still evacuating can find their way, and this story is known to be the “Inamura no Hi”.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 3.

By Dr. Toshiaki Yokoi, Director of IISEE

We would like to introduce the visitors to IISEE in March and April.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 4.

By Mr. Takashi Yamashita, Head of IISEE Administration Division

On Friday April 3, IISEE had a “Cherry Blossom Viewing” lunch party.
Although it was cloudy, we enjoyed a good view of cherry blossoms and Japanese style lunch boxes. As new staff members, Ms. Chieko Gotou and I introduced ourselves. Also, we celebrated two participants’ birthday singing a birthday song all together.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 5.

IISEE sent Year Book vol.32 to ex-participants in last March, and we received lots of replies from them. Out of them, we would like to introduce names of those who made a comforting feedback to IISEE.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 5.

It was with profound sorrow that we received the sad news of the passing away of following two ex-participants.
We would like to extend the sincerest sympathy from all of us at IISEE to their losses.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 5.

Please see the Newsletter attached on page 6.