Seismic Scientists And Emergency Managers Meet In Seattle
National Earthquake Conference: Understanding Earthquakes, From Research to Resilience
Release Date: January 16, 2008
Release Number: R10-08-049
» 2008 Region X News Releases
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Hundreds of geoscientists, engineers, insurance regulators, building officials and emergency managers will converge in Seattle to take part in the National Earthquake Conference, 22-26 April 2008, at The Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle. The conference is hosted by the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW), Western States Seismic Policy Council (WSSPC), Central United States Earthquake Consortium, Northeast States Emergency Consortium, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the Emergency Preparedness for Industry and Commerce Council of Canada. Sponsors include FEMA, USGS, NSF and NIST. The five-day conference links geoscientists and engineers, insurance regulators and emergency managers, building code developers and private citizens with seismic policy makers. According to WSSPC Executive Director Patti Sutch, the conference reflects a commitment to changing the way America deals with earthquakes by stressing pre-disaster planning and aggressive mitigation measures.
This years National Earthquake Conference will focus on building dialogue among emergency managers, earthquake researchers, government officials and business leaders to mitigate losses from earthquakes and increase social and economic resiliency, said Sutch.
The Conference will also provide opportunities to discuss future directions for the larger earthquake community, added CREW Executive Director Bob Freitag. There will even be opportunities to vote on new courses of action.
Susan Reinertson, FEMA Regional Administrator for Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, considers the conference a must attend event for emergency responders, managers and planners. This years content will focus on partnerships, risk analysis, pooled resources and aggressive pre-disaster mitigation, and reflects FEMAs commitment to improving the way America deals with disasters, said Reinertson. Optional field trips include tours of historical tsunami sites, Seattle fault lines and seismic retrofit projects designed to complement the plenary and panel discussions.
Pre-registration discounts are available through 2 March. For registration information visit:
www.earthquakeconference.org/registration.html
, or call 1-800-942-4978 (Dana Schlenker).
FEMA coordinates the federal governments role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, including acts of terror.
