Huge economic losses from natural disasters, including nearly 100 000 fatalities world wide in 1999 alone, gave rise to a renewed recognition by government, industry and the public that national governments and international agencies cannot simply go on as they have in the past. Changes in financial cover, better enforcement procedures for building standards, better business contingency planning, and well developed emergency response were demanded from all sides. In this volume an international group of experts present recent research on the variety of approaches adopted by different countries to assess natural hazard risks and the incentives for mitigating and financing them, the particular focus being in earthquake risks. The volume also presents an in-depth summary of recent reforms in Turkey related to seismic risks, with comparative research from many other countries. Linkages are emphasised between science and engineering infrastructure, insurance and risk management, and public policy.

Inhalt

1. Introduction and Overview of the Proceedings.- Establishing the Infrastructure for Risk Quantification.- 2. Modeling and Quantification of Earthquake Risk: Application to Emerging Economies.- 3. Challenges in Marine Seismology in the Aegean Region.- 4. Seismic Risk in Romania: Features and Countermeasures.- Mitigation and Mitigation Choice.- 5. Public-Private Partnerships for Reducing Seismic Risk Losses.- 6. Intertemporal Choice under Uncertainty: A Behavioral Perspective.- 7. A Social Decision Analysis of the Earthquake Safety Problem: The Case of Existing Los Angeles Buildings.- 8. Improving the Safety of Urban Areas through Local Seismic Cultures: From the Umbria 1997 Earthquake to Co-operation in the Mediterranean.- Recent Policy Developments in Turkey.- 9. Structural and Educational Dimensions of Earthquake Damage Mitigation in Turkey.- 10. Revision of the Turkish Development Law No. 3194 Governing Urban Development and Land Use Planning.- 11. Recent Changes in Turkish Disasters Policy: A Strategical Reorientation?.- Insurance and Risk Transfer Mechanisms.- 12. Alternative Risk Transfer Mechanisms for Seismic Risks.- 13. Considerations Behind the Compulsory Insurance with Earthquake Coverage.- 14. Derivative Effects of the 1999 Earthquake in Taiwan to U.S. Personal Computer Manufacturers.- 15. Insurance Markets for Earthquake Risks in Turkey: An Overview.