September 30, 2010
Disaster Prevention Research Institute held the 21st Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute public seminar at the Campus Plaza. This year is the second in the "Disaster proverb series," the first of which was held last year.
The subtitle "Disaster strikes when you least expect it" is a proverb said to have been created by Torahiko Terada. Regardless of the type, the larger the disaster, the rarer they occur. This is fortunate, but the memory of disasters fades as time passes, and therefore, disaster preparation remains difficult. This seminar focused on earthquakes, tidal waves, tsunami, volcanoes, avalanche/landslides, etc., and introduced cutting-edge disaster prevention research regarding these disasters.
The day began with greetings by Director Norio Okada, followed by five lectures of "Predicting the earthquake tremors" (Professor Sumio Sawada), "Lessons from the recent tidal wave/tsunami disasters" (Professor Tetsuya Hiraishi), "Learning from the past great eruption of Sakurajima" (Associate Professor Masato Iguchi), "How would landside disasters change due to global warming?" (Professor Sumio Matsuura), and "Conveying the disaster experience - to never forget -" (Katsuya Yamori). Later in the General Debate moderated by Professor Yoshihisa Iio, participants asked questions and stated opinions, and each lecturer answered or commented. The venue was continuously filled with enthusiasm towards the subject that everyone is concerned about, and approximately 170 citizens, technical experts, municipality employees, etc. who attended listened with much concentration.
 From left, Director Okada giving his greeting, Professor Sawada and Professor Hiraishi lecturing | |
 Associate Professor Iguchi lecturing |  Professor Matsuura lecturing |
 Professor Yamori lecturing | |