The 10^th General Assembly of Asian Seismological Commission (ASC), 2014

The 10th General Assembly of Asian Seismological Commission was held in Dusit Thani Manila Hotel, Makati City, Manila, the capital of Philippines from 17 to 20 November, 2014. The General Assembly was organized by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) in cooperation with International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI), Seismological Society of Japan (SSJ), Geological Society of the Philippines (GSP) and City of Makati. The main objective of the Assembly was: “Working together towards an earthquake-resilient Asia”. The welcome address was given by Hon. Jesomar Erwin S. Binay Jr., Mayor of Makati City followed by opening remarks by Prof. Gary Gibson (President, Asian Seismological Commission). A message sent by Dr. Domenico Giardini, President, IASPEI was read and opening of the conference was declared by Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr., President of Local Organizing Committee (LOC), ASC- 2014. The assembly was attended by 232 delegates from 22 countries. A total of 89 oral and 44 poster presentations were made.

The oral presentations were held in seven sessions. In session 1, ‘Strong Ground Motion, Earthquake Hazards and Risks’ focused on the significant development in strong ground motion observation and seismic hazard assessment. In Session 2 on, ‘Earth Structure, Geodynamics and Seismotectonic’, significant improvement in the Earth Structure i.e., Lithosphere structure, Receiver Function Travel Time Tomography, moment tensor inversion and active fault mapping were highlighted. Session 3 entitled ‘Volcano Seismology’ discussed on seismic activity at volcano. Session 4 on ‘Seismic Monitoring Observations and Data Analysis Products’ focused on the significant development in seismic monitoring system, tsunami monitoring system and data analysis. Session 5 on ‘Significant and recent devastating earthquakes’ focused on recent significant earthquakes and ISC event bibliography.

Session 6 on ‘Seismic Sources and Predictions’ focused on seismic sources, fault plane solution, source mechanism and earthquake forecasting. The Session 7 on ‘Education, Outreach and Cooperation’ focused on development of disaster education and community participation in earthquake and tsunami hazard. The following eight plenary talks were presented: (1) Prof. Brian Kennett, Australian National University, Australia: The interaction of structure and the source characteristics of great earthquakes. (2) Prof. Eric Calais, Purdue University, USA: Kinematics and Dynamics of Present-Day Continental Deformation in Asia. (3) Prof. Emile Okal, Northwestern University, USA: 160 years of tsunami detection and warning: Are we getting wiser? (4) Prof. Shu Kun Hsu, National Central University, Taiwan: The Manila Trench: Tectonics and earthquakes. (5) Dr. Renato Solidum, Jr., Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Philippines: Living with Nature’s perils: Disaster Risk Reduction Efforts in the Philippines. (6) Dr. Benoit Taisne, Earth Observatory in Singapore, Singapore: How volcano seismology unraveled the beauty of the dynamics of magma propagation. (7) Dr. R. K. Chadha, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India: Indian Tectonic Plate-earthquake sources and seismic hazard. (8) Dr. S. Demberel, Research Centre for Astronomy and Geophysics, Mongolia: Reducing earthquake Hazards in Mongolia: Challenges and Approaches.

From India, nine participants attended the 10^th General Assembly, ASC-2014. Prof. J. R. Kayal (Jadavpur University, Kolkota, West Bengal) presented a paper on ‘State of tectonic stress in Andaman-Sumatra subduction zone: Before and after the 2004 mega earthquake Mw 9.3’. Dr. Daya Shanker (IIT, Roorkee) presented two papers on ‘Would it have been possible to predict the February 02, 2014, M 6.8 Xinjiang-Xizang Border region earthquake?’ and ‘Prolongation of precursory swarm and future earthquake estimate in Indo-Nepal Himalaya’. Dr. Uma Ghosh (Lalbaba College, Howrah, West Bengal) presented on the topic ‘Evaluation of seismicity and seismic characteristics and its relation to seismic hazard assessment in a circular region of great 1905 Kangra earthquake of the north-west Himalaya’. Dr. Dipok Kumar Bora (Diphu Government College, Diphu, Assam) delivered presentation on ‘Crustal shear-wave velocity structure beneath northeast India from teleseismic receiver function analysis’. Dr. Rajib Biswas (Tezpur University, Assam) presented a paper on ‘Assessing shear wave velocity profile through combined use of the three passive techniques’. Dr. Raju Sarkar (Delhi Technological University, Delhi) presented on the ‘September 18, 2011 Sikkim-Nepal border earthquake-Lesson learnt’. Mr. Guda Pati Suresh (NGRI, Hyderabad, India) delivered presentation on: ‘Shallow sub-surface structure of the foredeep basin along the Himalaya’. Ms. Jyotima Kanoujia (IIT, Roorkee) presented her paper on: ‘A study of 1-D crustal structure in Garhwal Lesser Himalaya region using local seismological network data’.

A pre-assembly training was organized by Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of ASC-2014 from 12 to16 November, 2014 in Sequoia Hotel, Quezon City. The training program was facilitated by Prof. Gary Gibson, President, ASC-2014 and Dr. Mark Quigley, Earthquake Geologist from New Zealand. The training program was attended by 21 participants from 6 countries. A large number of presentations were made by the young scientists of the PHIVOLCS on seismic hazards and volcanic studies in Philippines, that gave a better understanding of the natural hazards of the country. The LOC extended warm hospitality and maximum financial supports to the students and young researchers from different developing countries of Asia. Prof Gary Gibson, President ASC has kindly consented the 11^th General Assembly, ASC-16 in Melbourne, Australia.