Thu. May 25, 2017 3:30 PM - 4:45 PM Poster Hall (International Exhibition Hall HALL7)

Geohazards, caused by short and long term Earth processes, result in catastrophic damages, casualties and destruction of social infrastructures with an immense impact on local and global economy and on the stability of nations and societies. Geoarchaeological, paleoseismic, neotectonic and volcanic studies have shown that the demise of some of the most important civilization centers in the world was accelerated and finished off by a series of major earthquake, tsunami, volcanic, and/or flood and drought events in the recorded human history. It is, therefore, imperative that earth scientists, engineers, socioeconomists, educators, health organizations, policymakers and city state officials make concerted, systematic and collaborative efforts to better understand and document various types of destructive geohazards and to put in place effective and functional programs and policies for risk assessment, preparedness, and mitigation. All these professionals and related organizations should collaborate to develop international standards for building a vast and accessible database and data exchange program.

This session is aimed at providing an international forum to discuss the current and future practices and efforts for knowledge gathering and transferring the extant scientific information to policy making and societal understanding of the causes and consequences of geohazards, and to the development of early warning systems and risk assessment and reduction plans and strategies. We particularly welcome contributions from earth and social scientists, geoarchaeologists, economists and public officials engaged in different aspects of geohazard research and management in the Pan Pacific, Asia, and Mediterranean regions.