Report of the observer panel for the U.S.-Japan Earthquake Policy Symposium.

In September 1996, a U.S.-Japan Earthquake Policy Symposium was held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., as part of a new bilateral initiative for cooperation on policy and research to reduce earthquake losses. Hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the meeting involved high-level representatives from both the U.S. and Japan. To assist FEMA as it plans and implements this new program, the Board on Natural Disasters of the National Research Council, charged with assessing the outcomes of the symposium and identifying opportunities for future scientific and policy exchanges between the two countries. The panel recommended increased policy leadership to identify research topics, strategic planning to define specific activities, creation of performance measures, and the involvement of policy makers and researchers from the two countries with comparable roles and responsibilities