Hi All,
I thought you would like to see this report. GeoHazards International
is one of the few agencies concerned with earthquake risk in
third-world nations. They have had a hard time over they years
because of lack of funding, but deserve the support of anyone
interested in reducing the threat of global earthquakes, especially
in poorer nations where catastrophic earthquakes can be financially
devastating to weak national economies.

From Brian Tucker
CEO GeoHazards International

This is my first short report to you on GHI's progress. I describe
three of our recent activities.

The first is the release in mid October of the final report of the
Global Earthquake Safety Initiative ("GESI"), conducted by GHI and the
United National Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) over the last
two years, with the direct involvement of many of you, and partially
supported by USAID/OFDA. The project (summarized on "www.geohaz.org")
evaluated the earthquake risk and earthquake risk mitigation options of
21 major cities around the world. We've mailed the full report to many
of you. If anyone else would like a copy, please contact me. It is
free for GHI members, and costs $20 for others.

The second activity concerns the reconstruction of Gujarat, India, which
suffered so from an earthquake in January. GHI is part of an exchange
program of masons and engineers between India and Nepal, involving our
Indian associates in the nonprofit organization SEEDS, our long-term
Nepalese partners in the nonprofit organization NSET, and our friends in
UNCRD. In this program, Nepalese masons and engineers, who were trained
in past NSET school retrofit projects (partially supported by GHI), went
to Gujarat to help in various reconstruction activities and, in the
process, train Gujarati masons in seismo-resistant construction
practices. In January 2002, some of these Gujarti masons will go to
Kathmandu to observe, as part of the annual Nepal Earthquake Safety Week
that GHI helped create, the school retrofit projects undertaken by NSET
and undergo additional training. GHI is helping cover the
transportation costs of this exchange program. These Nepali and Gujarti
projects -- combining reconstruction or retrofitting with mason training
-- are particularly effective, because they result in not only stronger
houses and schools, but also an increased demand in the local
communities for the masons' newly acquired earthquake-resistant
construction skills.

The third GHI activity I want to describe was planned for September, but
had to be postponed as a result of the September 11 aftermath. Amy
Young (of GHI) and Carlos Ventura (a civil engineering professor of the
University of British Columbia, and a longtime GHI volunteer) were
supposed to spend the last two weeks of September in Northern Pakistan,
working with some Aga Khan Network colleagues, evaluating the
effectiveness of a low-cost technique of constructing earthquake
resistant homes and schools in that region. Amy and Carlos were going to
make this evaluation using the method developed and tested in the GESI
project. They were also going to write a proposal with the Aga Khan
people to apply our GESI method to the major, highly vulnerable cities
of Pakistan. This trip is now on hold until a time more conducive to
work in this region of the world.

This concludes my report. I will write again in a few months. Until
then, I wish you -- and the world -- well.

Best regards,

-- Brian Tucker

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Brian E. Tucker
GeoHazards International
http://www.geohaz.org/

• GeoHazards International Web site