From 7-11 September, 2016, the conference “Earthquake science and hazard in Central Asia” took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The meeting brought together earth scientists and social scientists from the EwF project, and scientists and decision makers from Kazakhstan. Aim was to report on the state of the art of modern earthquake science, to explore strategies for mitigating earthquake risk, and to discuss strategies for communicating science to the public and decision makers. The Shakhmardan Yessenov Foundation sponsered the meeting, which was co-hosted by the Kazakhstan Institute of Seismology of the Academy of Sciences, the National Technical University of Kazakhstan, and the EwP Project. Besides scientific presentations and discussions, a field trip led the participants to earthquake study sites in the vicinity of Almaty.

A conference summary has now been published by Hannah Caddick and Louise Ball from the Overseas Development Institute, ODI. The report can be downloaded here: https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/11151.pdf.

Here are some impressions from the field trip led by Richard Walker:

Deformed gravel layers testify to tectonic deformation.

Uplifted river terraces can be used to calculate fault slip rates.

Richard Walker explaining the local geology.

The field trip was also open to Kazakhs students.

“Can you see the fault over there?”