TECHNOLOGY-TRANSFER

Fundamental knowledge on the nature and extent of the physical and societal impacts of earthquakes and ways to mitigate and prepare for them has advanced significantly during the 1990's. However, transfer of technology (that is, the transfer of fundamental knowledge and know-how for use by society to achieve a practical purpose such as earthquake risk reduction) lags behind research because people and organizations are: (a) paralyzed by apathy, (b) neutralized by narrow mindness, and (c) rendered powerless by ineffective actions. Solutions to these constraints have begun to emerge and are expected to improve during the 1990's as existing national and regional programs in the US, such as those composing the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, are expanded and cooperative international programs, such as a seismic zonation study in Algeria and those of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, are initiated by individual nations throughout the world.