US Government Funds Seismic Network Station in Uzbekistan for Global Monitoring
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Ministry of Emergency (MES) Situation’s Republican Center for Seismic Forecasting Monitoring have installed a new seismic station in Karasai, outside Jizzakh City. At the inauguration ceremony, the U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Henick and the Deputy Minister of MES, Muhitdinov Muhtar, cut a ribbon to signal the installation of the state-of-the-art seismic station. The station is part of the U.S. Global Seismic Network of more than 150 stations worldwide, funded by the United States Government.
The station’s goal is to provide a better understanding of worldwide seismic activity in Uzbekistan and Central Asia, and data from the station can be used for a more comprehensive understanding of earthquakes and mitigation of earthquake risks. The United States and Uzbekistan have bloomed their seismic exchange relationship since the seismic station project’s launch in late 2020.
To gain a better understanding of seismic hazards and earthquake risk-related challenges in Uzbekistan, Dr. Tuna Onur and Dr. Ana Aguiar, earthquake experts, visited Uzbekistan from February 20-24, 2023, for the first time to collaborate with the Uzbekistan Government. One of their goals was to incorporate local data into a regionally integrated database of historic Central Asian seismic activity. This data will give a better probabilistic approach toward seismic hazard assessment (PHSA) models for the region. The specialists met with officials at MES, the Institute of Seismology (IOS) under the Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Construction (MOC), Institute of Mechanics and Seismic Resistance of Buildings (IOM), Tashkent University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tashkent State Technical University, AO Institute Toshuyjoy LITI, and the National University of Uzbekistan (NUU).
Dr. Onur had the chance to teach National University of Uzbekistan (NUU) students virtually on PSHA techniques in October 2022, particularly in regard to the impact of seismic hazards on building codes and the evaluation of earthquake risk. During the recent visit, Dr. Onur was able to connect with her NUU students in person and distribute their participation certificates. In April, Dr. Onur also gave focused training to MES, IOS, MOC, and IOM on PSHA techniques. This training aimed to advise the Uzbekistan Government based on her experience in modeling safer construction codes to follow the British North American standards.
The Embassy aided in the development of a memorandum of understanding for educational exchange in seismology between United States-based Michigan State University (MSU) and NUU. As a result of this agreement, MSU, with funding from the International Science and Technology Center, plans to install a seismic education station at NUU’s geology camp in the Chatkal Mountains in May. The project aims to teach young Uzbek scientists about seismology and provide them with the opportunity to operate their own stations.
