In November 2019, IRIDeS launched the new Earthquake Disaster Prevention for Urban Areas (OYO Corporation) Endowed Research Division. This new division is headed by Prof. Shinji Toda (concurrently working at the Disaster Science Division) and includes Research Associates Yoko Yoshimi and Kimie Norimatsu. The new Division aims at studying major inland earthquakes in urban areas and proposing realistic disaster risk reduction measures.
 
On November 6, 2019, the inaugural ceremony for this new division was held, and the specific research policy was explained. The Division plans to conduct detailed case studies and construct a database of inland earthquakes that have occurred in Japan and overseas. Further, the division will focus on a possible future earthquake by the Nagamachi-Rifu active fault zone which could occur right beneath Sendai ’s urban area in the near future, estimating their earthquake ground motions and damages. At the establishment of the new division, Prof. Toda stated his ambitions by saying, “Many of the major urban areas in Japan are on or near active faults, and are highly exposed to the risk of earthquakes. We will develop new forecasting technologies, learning from the lessons of major urban area earthquakes such as the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. We would like to produce research outcomes that could have a strong impact on society, supported by OYO Corporation and taking advantage of industry-academia cooperation.”

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