ABSTRACT
The National Academy of Engineering's Committee on Earthquake Engineering report demonstrated that earthquake-related research needs consisted of various intertwined disciplines including earthquake science, engineering, and socioeconomic and policy concerns. In 1975 and 1976 critical events mobilized Congress to enact a national earthquake hazard reduction policy. Earthquake hazard management came to be viewed as a needed and viable strategy for reducing earthquake risk. National Science Foundation research activity investigates the political, economic, and sociological factors that influence the use of earthquake hazards reduction measures. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program has been amended in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 1990. The 1964 Good Friday Alaska earthquake provided the impetus for the nation to clarify the issues involved in earthquake hazard reduction and to define future research needs. Research recommendations were mainly related to the earth sciences—fields like geology and geophysics—and recommendations for future earthquake engineering and social science research were relatively neglected.
