The APEC Cooperation for Earthquake Simulations
The ACES group has been meeting at various sites around the Pacific Rim since 1998. Started by Professor Peter Mora from the University of Queensland, the organization was approved by the Industrial Science and Technology Working Group of APEC at the 1997 Singapore meeting. The first meeting was held at UQ in Brisbane, AU, and Noosa Heads, on the Gold Coast. It was a memorable meeting with many of the worlds' leading seismologists in attendance. Details can be found at: http://quakes.earth.uq.edu.au/
Since that time, meetings have been held in Japan (Hakone and Otaru), China (Beijing), Australia again (Palm Cove/Cairns), and the US (Hawaii). Since those first meetings, the progress in international collaborations and in simulation technology has been truly impressive. The tsunami simulations alone are startlingly realistic. We now have Operational Earthquake Forecasting as a reality, together with a variety of simulations for storm surges, wildfires, landslides, floods, dam failures, and a variety of other hazards.
The future is exciting, and the progress during the next decade should be equally impressive. Photos of the current meeting and speakers can be seen on the Galleries page.
About OpenHazards Bloggers
Steven Ward is a Research Geophysicist at
the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UC Santa Cruz. He specializes in the quantification and simulation of
natural hazards. Read Steve's blog.
John Rundle is a Distinguished Professor of Physics
and Geology at UC Davis and
the Executive Director of the APEC Collaboration for Earthquake Simulations. He
chaired the Board of Advisors for the Southern California Earthquake Center from 1994 to 1996. Read John's blog.