esclogo

 

European Seismological Commission

MEETING OF THE ESC COUNCIL
Thursday, September 12, 1996

Present: Titular Members and Executive Committee

The ESC President welcomes all participants and announces the names of the people he has invited as observers to the meeting:

Secretary-General of the Asian Seismological Commission Prof. Zhu Chuanzhen, the EMSC president Dr. Chris Browitt, the representative of Macedonia (FYRO) that has applied for ESC membership Prof. Vladimir Mihajlov, and the representative of Albania (not an IUGG member) Dr. Betim Muco.

1. Presence of a quorum

P Suhadolc ascertains the presence of the quorum. 30 out of 36 are present.

2. Appointment of the Election Chairman and tellers

C Browitt is proposed as Election Chairman, T Camelbeeck and J Sileny as tellers. The proposal is approved.

3. ESC General Assemblies in 1998

P Suhadolc informs the Council that two invitations have been received by the ESC Bureau for the organisation of the 1998 ESC General Assembly: the first one from The Institute for Petroleum Research and Geophysics in Tel-Aviv (Israel), the second from the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Lisbon (Portugal).

No other candidacies are raised from the floor.

C Browitt asks the representatives from both centres to briefly illustrate their candidacies. A Hofstetter and L Mendes Victor illustrate their candidates.

The voting is done by secret ballot. The outcome is:

Tel Aviv 21 votes

Lisbon 19 votes

The 1998 ESC General Assembly will be, therefore, organised by The Institute for Petroleum Research and Geophysics in Tel-Aviv (Israel). Contact person A Hofstetter.

4. Elections

The Nominating Committee presents the candidates in sequential order.

Results of the elections:

- Bureau:

President: G Sobolev is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. G. Sobolev is elected (votes: 39 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

Vice-Presidents: For the first of the two Vice-presidents R Stefansson is presented. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. R Stefansson is reelected (38 yes, 0 no, 2 abs.)

For the second of the two Vice-presidents A Shapira is presented. The candidacy of L Mendes Victor is proposed from the floor. Election is carried out by secret ballot. The outcome is: A Shapira 24 votes, L Mendes Victor 16 votes. A Shapira is elected.

Secretary General: P Suhadolc is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands.

P Suhadolc is elected by show of hands (39 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

Assistant Secretary: A B Walker is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands.

A B Walker is elected by show of hands (39 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

- Subcommissions

SC-A: K B Makropoulos is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. K B Makropoulos is elected.

SC-B: L Vinnik is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands.

L Vinnik is elected.

SC-C: A Deschamps is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands.

A Deschamps is elected.

SC-D: J Mechie is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands.

J Mechie is elected.

SC-E: G Purcaru is presented as candidate. The candidacy of J Zschau is proposed from the floor. Election is carried out by secret ballot. The outcome is: G Purcaru 14 votes, J Zschau 24 votes, 2 abstentions.

J Zschau is elected.

SC-F: D Slejko is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands.

D Slejko is elected.

5. Titular Members

P Suhadolc reports that the ESC Bureau has received one application for membership to the ESC from FYRO Macedonia. According to the ESC Bylaws Article 1 and 2, the membership countries must be located in the ESC area defined in Article 1 and must be members of the IUGG. The applicant fulfills the two requirements. In view of this, the ESC Bureau proposes to accept FYRO Macedonia as an ESC member.

C Browitt asks if there is no objection to a show of hands. No objection is raised. The election is carried out by a show of hands. FYRO Macedonia is accepted unanimously.

The Bureau then proposes the confirmation of Titular Members appointed by their respective countries, including the Titular Member appointed by FYRO Macedonia. P Suhadolc reports that he has not received the official letters of appointment for the Titular members of the Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, Monaco and Norway. The Bureau proposes to the Council that R Sleeman is Titular Member for the Netherlands, F Scherbaum for Germany, Z El-Isa for Jordan, Van Klaveren for Monaco and S Mykkeltveit for Norway. The Council approves the proposal.

The List of Titular Members for the Administrative period 1996-1998 is therefore:

Country Titular member Confirmed

Algeria M Benhallou 06.08.96

Austria W Lenhardt 31.07.96

Belgium Th Camelbeeck 14.09.94

Bulgaria D Jordanov 13.06.96

Croatia D Skoko 15.09.94

Czech rep. J Sileny 02.09.96

Denmark E Hjortenberg 19.08.96

Egypt M Dessokey 16.07.96

Finland P Heikkinen 13.08.96

France A Deschamps 09.02.94

Germany F Scherbaum 12.09.96

Greece J Drakopoulos 12.09.94

Hungary T Zsiros 16.09.94

Iceland R Stefánsson 23.07.96

Ireland A W Jacob 12.08.96

Israel A Hofstetter 25.08.96

Italy C Eva 26.07.96

Jordan Z El-Isa 12.09.96

Lebanon C Tabet 07.08.96

Luxembourg J Flick 31.07.96

Macedonia FYRO V Mihajlov 04.09.96

Monaco Van Klaveren 12.09.96*

Morocco D Ben Sari 16.08.96

Netherlands R Sleeman 12.09.96

Norway S Mykkeltveit 12.09.96

Poland S Gibowicz 30.08.96

Portugal L Mendes Victor 10.07.96

Romania D Enescu 18.08.96

Russia Y Tyupkin 13.08.96

Slovakia P Moczo 12.08.96

Slovenia J Lapajne 02.03.94

Spain J Badal 10.07.96

Sweden O Kulhanek 15.08.96

Switzerland D Mayer-Rosa 21.02.94

Tunisia M Allouche 08.09.94

Turkey R Yilmaz 28.01.94

UK I Stimpson 08.04.94

* With a letter dated October 3, 1996 Monaco has subsequently appointed P. Mondielli as its Titular member for the next two administrative periods (1996-2000).

6. Amendments of ESC Bylaws

The ESC Bureau and Executive Committee propose the following amendments to the ESC Bylaws (the deleted parts are strikethrough typed, the added parts are typed in bold).

P Suhadolc presents the first amendment, which has been approved by the ESC Bureau and the ESC Executive Committee.

Article VI. The Executive Committee

The members of the Bureau and the chair-persons of the Subcommissions form the Executive Committee. It meets at least once during the General Assembly and at other times if necessary. It advises the Bureau in the preparation and the co-ordination of the General Assemblies. In addition it intervenes in any important question at the initiative of the President or of at least one third of its members. The International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI), the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), and the European Association for Earthquake Engineering (EAEE) and Observatories and Research Facilities for European Seismology (ORFEUS) are represented in the Executive Committee.

The decisions of the Executive Committee must be confirmed or rejected by the Council.

P Suhadolc asks B Dost to give a short presentation on the work of ORFEUS.

B Dost describes the purpose and objectives of ORFEUS, among which the collection and distribution of broadband digital waveform data and related software. He emphasises the complementary position of ORFEUS with respect to the EMSC activities.

C Browitt asks the Council to vote on the first amendment. The Council approves the amendment unanimously.

P Suhadolc presents the second amendment, which has been approved by the ESC Bureau and the ESC Executive Committee.

Internal Rules for the Subcommissions

I. Membership and Administration

Everybody interested in the objectives of a subcommission is qualified for membership. Each subcommission is administered by a Bureau consisting of a President, a Vice-President and a Secretary.

The subcommission Bureau members are elected for a maximum of 6 years.

C Browitt asks the Council to vote on the second amendment. The Council approves the amendment unanimously.

P Suhadolc presents the third amendment, which has been approved by the ESC Bureau and the ESC Executive Committee.

Internal Rules for the Subcommissions

II. Obligations

The President of a subcommission is responsible for:

1. the delivery of progress reports from its WGs at least 6 months before the ESC General Assembly and the delivery of an evaluation and summary of these progress reports to the ESC Bureau at least 4 months before the ESC General Assembly,

2. the delivery of a review of subcommission activities during the ESC General Assembly within 3 months after its conclusion;

3. the delivery of activity reports of the subcommission to the ESC General Assembly,

4. the announcement of the results and decisions taken by the subcommission to the ESC Bureau,

5. the timely forwarding of resolutions to the Resolutions Committee. The proposed resolutions or recommendations shall concern scientific matters only.

C Browitt asks the Council to vote on the third amendment. The Council approves the amendment unanimously. The Council decides to post the amendments for a limited period on the ESC WWW Homepage.

7. Resolutions

Each resolution is presented, by D Mayer-Rosa, President of the Resolutions Committee. With minor amendments the following resolutions have been adopted.

Parametric European Earthquake Catalogues

Considering that

1. European Parametric Earthquake Catalogues (EPEC) have to be developed rapidly,

2. Most scientists agree that parametric earthquake catalogues can be compiled according to varied perspectives and procedures from a databank of primary data.

3. The main problem is the improvement of primary data and procedures for determining earthquake parameters,

4. The ongoing initiatives will provide a substantial progress in this direction and a methodology for its follow-up,

The ESC recommends

The continuation and possible expansion of ongoing initiatives to the whole European area, with the aim of producing regularly updated EPEC releases under the co-ordination of Subcommission A.

Preservation of all seismological material

Recognising

the importance of historical seismograms, seismological bulletins and catalogues for reliable evaluation of seismicity and seismic hazard in various parts of the world,

the ESC recommends

that all institutes and other organizations which possess seismograms, bulletins, catalogues and other relevant material from the last century and the first half of this century handle these with utmost care and archive them in a way which provides easy access. Means should be found, as a matter of urgency to identify the location and curatorship of existing seismological archives, and that this information should be made available to all interested parties.

Array Seismology

Considering

the importance of array techniques for global seismology and

recognising

the efforts to upgrade existing regional seismic networks to perform as seismic arrays within the Japanese GARNET project

the ESC recommends

to support all efforts for similar initiatives in Europe.

EU Support: Earthquake Prediction

Recognising

the efforts made by the European Union (EU) to improve the scientific research cooperation in the field of earthquake prediction through the European area and noting the new development in this direction

the ESC recommends

the strengthening of the EU support of research programs to foster wider geographic cooperation in order to assure a faster development in earthquake prediction.

Data for Noise-Precursor Discrimination

Recognising

the importance of comparative analysis of data accumulated in the different or similar geological conditions for noise-precursor discrimination and taking into account new technical channels for data exchange and transmission

the ESC recommends

that the members who are involved with ESC activity provide access to the files of their seismological, geochemical and other geophysical observations through INTERNET.

European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-92)

Considering

the successful testing period of three years of the new ‘European Macroseismic Scale’ (EMS-92).

the ESC recommends

the use of the EMS-92 in its improved version in future macroseismic studies in Europe.

ESC Training Course for Young Seismologists

Considering

the very positive response of participants in the first “ESC Training Course for Young Seismologists” in conjunction with the Reykjavik General Assembly of the ESC, the Bureau of the ESC expresses its sincere thanks to the organizers and lecturers of this course and,

the ESC recommends

that such training courses are made an integral part of future ESC General Assemblies.

Thanks

Recognising

the great success of the XXV General Assembly of the ESC (1996),

the participants gathered in Reykjavik

express their appreciation

to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the Ministry for the Environment and the University of Iceland for hosting this meeting, and

express their gratitude

to the Local Organizing Committee for their excellent and efficient work in preparing and managing this meeting and for the very enjoyable social programme.

8. Miscellanea

The ESC Council decides to send greeting cards from the XXV ESC General Assembly in Reykjavik to E Petershmitt (Strasbourg), A Galanopoulos (Athens), J Hjelme (Copenhagen), H Berckhemer (Frankfurt), St. Mueller (Zurich) and M Bath (Uppsala), who has celebrated his 80th birthday this year.


News

Announcement: ESC General Assembly 2026

The next ESC General Assembly will be held in Istanbul (Turkey), tentatively in the second week of September 2026. This will be the 40th General Assembly. We look forward to seeing you in Istanbul!


Submit a session proposal for the 2025 SSA Annual Meeting in Baltimore

SSA has extended the session proposal deadline to 24 October 2024. Consider taking advantage of this opportunity to contribute to shaping our partner organisation's Annual Meeting! More information can be found here.

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From the Working Groups:

Visit the website of the FAULT2SHA Working Group and find out about its forthcoming activities

Visit the website of the WG Preservation, valorisation and analysis of seismological legacy data

Visit the website of the WG Harmonizing Internet Macroseismology in Europe 

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Find out about the Young Seismologist Training Course here.

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Sadly we announce the loss of esteemed and beloved colleagues and friends:

 
Older obituaries can be found here.