As the world harshly noticed with the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions can cause very broad damage to people, the environment and the economy. Natural disasters’ occurrence and damages spread beyond borders. The North Pacific region, Japan, the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, the Aleutians and Alaska, is one of the most active regions of earthquake and volcanic activity in the world. To deal with borderless disaster, international collaboration in researches and activity monitoring should be operated. Reliable geohazard information are required for residents in the North Pacific and also in North America, Hawaii and circum Pacific regions because of great tsunamis easily propagate the ocean and cause devastating damages. The view of economic and traffic functions strongly request the concrete geohazard information because lot of aviations and vessels pass this region with more than 10,000 peoples and freights of several hundred million dollars per day. Volcanic ash can cause fatal trouble to jet engines and vessel operations. 

Hokkaido University and Russian Institutions have continued cooperative international scientific activity since 1994 under the intergovernmental agreement of Japan-Russia science and technology cooperation. Many outputs and mature relationship have been in the making. United States Geological Survey have also recognized the importance the cooperative operation of earthquake and volcano researches and monitoring in the North Pacific and have provided various supports to Russian institutions. 

The 53rd International Japan Workshop on Earthquake and Volcanic Eruption Monitoring and Disaster Mitigation in the North Pacific Region was held in Hokkaido University (Sapporo, Japan) on 10-13 May. More than 50 scientists from Japan, the US and Russia took part in the event organized by the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC). The focus of the event was placed on earthquakes and volcanic activity in the North Pacific region, earthquake monitoring and alert systems, volcano monitoring and alert system, active fault research and crustal deformation monitoring, and ongoing and planned research projects in the North Pacific region. 

Several ISTC projects were funded by Japan and the US. During the workshop new contacts were created between Russian, Japanese and US research institutions active in the North Pacific region that will collect and exchange information for better geo hazard monitoring. 

Workshop Program (download)