We are happy to announce the new international graduate summer course “Natural Disaster Management” that will be held 30 May to 22 June 2012 at the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre of the University of Iceland.

The course follows the success of the last course which was held in June 2011. It was attended by people from Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The participants, who were of diverse backgrounds such as engineering, sociology, geology, environmental management, environmental sciences, geophysics, etc., consisted mostly of masters and doctoral students that all came together and studied natural distaster management with us here in Iceland.

The course of spring 2012 will again address all phases of the disaster cycle, examine local, national, and international aspects and discusse the many disciplines needed in disaster management projects. Such projects require representatives with diverse backgrounds, both academic and practical, and thus the philosophy behind this course is that all disciplines should have a common base on which to communicate, enabling them to effectively include different perspectives into disaster management projects. To mirror a multidisciplinary world this course therefore seeks students with different backgrounds. Additionally, the course offers specialized projects for students interested in relating disaster management to the field of earthquake engineering.

We encourage you to browse our website and gather more information on the course, the EERC and the University Centres of South Iceland, and of course Iceland itself.

We note that the application deadline is 1 March 2012.

We have received a lot of qualified applications for the Natural Catastrophes Summer Course from many countries, like Canada, Denmark, France, Netherland and USA.

The payment link to pay the course fee is now active, and the deadline for paying the fee is April 5 2011.

Every participant should have received email with some practical things to attend to.

 The Earthquake Engineering Research Centre and The University Centre of South Iceland staff is very happy about all the applications and are really looking forward to meeting the students in Iceland in May.

 Scientists at the EERC are currently processing strong-motion (SM) data from the Mw 6.3 earthquake on February 21 2011 at 23:51 GMT the epicentre of which was located about 10 km south-east of Christchurch City Centre in the South Island of New Zealand. The SM data obtained from the GeoNet website http://www.geonet.org.nz is being analyzed by Dr. Rajesh Rupakhety by using new methodologies and computer programs developed at the EERC.

Dr. Rupakhety has mapped the variation of PGA in the epicentral region (Figure 1: Map1) which indicates large peak ground accelerations (PGA), with a maximum vertical acceleration of 1.9g (g being acceleration of gravity) at the Pages Road Pumping Station in Christchurch (Figure 2: acc).

Preliminary results indicate strong evidence of ground motion amplification due to local soil conditions in the Christchurch area. Severe long-period pulses and significant permanent ground displacements, characteristic of near-fault earthquake ground motion, are observed at several stations near the epicentre.

A detailed investigation of the recorded and processed earthquake motion (co-seismic ground displacement, localized amplification of ground motion, characteristics of long-duration velocity pulses, etc.), and the corresponding structural response to the earthquake action is underway.

 

  In Maori mythology, Ruaumoko (also known as Ruamoko) is the youngest  son of Rangi and Papa, god of  volcanoes and seasons. He has never been born and remains inside his mother's womb. His movements are considered the cause of earthquakes. These earthquakes in turn are responsible for the change of seasons. Depending on the time of year, the earthquakes cause the warmth, or cold, of Mother Earth to come to the surface of the land, resulting in the warming, or cooling of the Earth.[1]

[1] Reference: Best, Elsdon. 1907. Maori Forest Lore: being some 

Account of Native Forest Lore and Woodcraft, as also of many Myths, Rites, Customs, and Superstitions connected with the Flora and Fauna of theTuhoe or Ure-wera District.—Part I. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Vol. 20, Art. XV, pp. 185-254.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruaumoko