The Joint EAEE-ESC Task Group composed of European Association for Earthquake Engineering Task Group TG6 of "Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering and Microzonation" and European Seismological Commission Working Group WG4 on "Microzonation" was formed after the approval of the two organisations during the first half of 1995. The Co-Coordinators of the Joint Task Group is A.Ansal from EAEE side and A.Marcellini from ESC side. The Joint EAEE-ESC Task Group had three meetings during up to the present:

1. First Meeting on October 16, 1995 in Nice, France during the Fifth International Conference on Seismic Zonation;
2. Second Meeting on Sept.11, 1996 in Reykjavik, Iceland during the XXVth ESC General Assembly;
3. Third Meeting on Sept.21, 1997 in Thessaloniki, Greece during the XXIXth IASPEI General Assembly.

The minutes of these meetings were prepared by the Coordinators and were distributed to all the members. They were published in the Bulletins and inserted in EAEE Internet web pages. The fourth meeting of EAEE and ESC Joint Task Group will be held in Paris during the 11th ECEE.

During this period the Joint Task Group organised two Open Symposia:

1. "SC-F3 Seismic Microzonation" during the XXV General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission that was held in Reykjavik on September 12, 1996
2. "SC-F5 Site Effects, Design Ground Motion and Microzonation" during XXVI General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel on August 26, 1998.

In the three meetings held by the EAEE-ESC Joint Task Group, various issues related to Task Group activities were discussed. These can be summarised as:

Concerning TG6 & WG4 activities:

1.There is a need to establish cooperation among seismologists and geotechnical engineers in the field of microzonation and in the evaluation of EC8, Part 1 and Part 5.

2.There are three groups of scientists, seismologists, geotechnical engineers, and structural engineers. A consensus is needed among these three groups of scientists to implement microzonation. TG6 & WG4 should work to achieve this goal since all these groups are present in EAEE & ESC.

3.One of the goals of TG6 & WG4 should be to establish links with other working groups or technical committees of other international organisations. There is one such committee, the Technical Committee, TC4 on "Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering" of International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Dr.Seco Pinto is the chairman for TC4. Workshops or seminars can be organised jointly with this committee on EC8 or on microzonation.

4.One important issue is the mode of working within TG6 & WG4. The general meetings should be used mostly for organisational purposes and for planning of future activities. The technical topics should be discussed in detail in workshops or seminars with the participation of experts and researchers that are not members of TG6 & WG4.

5.One of the goals of TG6 & WG4 should be to exchange information concerning research projects, earthquakes, and other related information among members and to disseminate this information by publishing them in the bulletin that will be also on World Wide Web.

Concerning Microzonation:

1.There is very limited literature about the implementation of microzonation. TG6 & WG4 can prepare a report reviewing available methodologies and case studies.

2.One possibility is to work and apply the procedures suggested in the Zonation Manual of TC4. TG6 & WG4 can work jointly with TC4 to revise the manual to improve its applicability.

3.Work can be undertaken to adopt the Zonation Manual prepared TC4 to Europe, the data concerning a selected test site or sites can be distributed to interested different groups to be evaluated and the results can be discussed in a seminar or workshop organised for this purpose.

4.The idea of Market Place, giving information to all interested groups for evaluation may be pursued to initiate activity.

Concerning Microzonation Book:

1.In the light of very limited books and manuals on the theory and implementation of microzonation, it was considered very timely and appropriate to edit a book about theory and implementation of seismic microzonation. Kluwer Academic Publishers proposed to publish this book when it is completed. A preliminary version of the table of contents was discussed and names of responsible convenors for different chapters for writing and compiling the necessary material needed for their chapters were approved. It was agreed that Dr.Marcellini and Dr.Ansal will be the general editors of the book and Dr.Marcellini will coordinate the related correspondence. It was also decided to prepare a more detailed table of contents with short summaries about each chapter.

2.There was a general consensus that the book should consist of below listed 8 chapters with A.Marcellini & A.Ansal as the editors and with following persons as the authors and/or the coordinators for the related chapters :

3.It was agreed that the editors should write a preliminary version of the Introduction to be distributed to all chapter authors/coordinators, to possible contributors and to all members of EAEE/TG6 & ESC/WG4 Joint Group.

4.It was also agreed that each chapter author/coordinator should prepare a short introduction or abstract outlining the contents of the chapter. After reviewing and editing these abstracts or introductions the final version for all chapters would be distributed to all members of EAEE/TG6 & ESC/WG4 Joint Group and to all possible contributors. After the editors complete their editing, the draft copy will be forwarded to experts in the field of microzonation and to all members of EAEE/TG6 & ESC/WG4 Joint Group to be reviewed.

5.The general coordination of the book will be the responsibility of A.Marcellini. Therefore all chapter authors/coordinators, possible contributors and all members are asked to send him their comments or suggestions related with microzonation book and also a copy of all the letters written, views exchanged among chapter authors/coordinators and possible contributors.

Concerning EC8

1.EC8 is already approved. In suggesting revisions as EAEE & ESC, it appears necessary to exchange views and to establish cooperation among related WG's within EAEE & ESC.

2.National documents have to be prepared in each country to adopt EC8. TG6 & WG4 can be effective at this stage in producing applications to some case studies and some suggestions for possible revisions.

3.TG6 & WG4 members can carry out studies in their respective countries concerning the application of EC8 mainly on Part 5 but also on Part 1. The results obtained can be presented and discussed in workshop. A document containing all the contributions and discussions can also be published.

4.It may be difficult to establish a common code like EC8 even in Europe when hazard analysis is completely different among countries. Therefore more work and discussions are needed. TG6 & WG4 being an interdisciplinary, multi-national and independent committee may be very suitable to initiate such an activity.

Concerning Financial Support and Joint Project for TG6 & WG4

1.EU funds within the framework Thematic Networks can be pursued to find support for organising workshops and TG6 & WG4 meetings.

2.The chances of finding financial support from EU or other sources are high. A project can be prepared for microzonation of test site or for evaluation of EC8. The cooperation of engineers and seismologists would be an advantage.

3.A proposal should be prepared for EU Thematic Networks. It would be necessary to assign responsible people for the preparation of such a proposal. The idea of a selected test site for the implementation of microzonation by different groups can be used as a possible purpose for such a project as well as the evaluation of EC8.

Concerning Med-Campus Project :

1.A brief introduction was presented about Med-Campus Projects. The participants expressed their views about the three alternative programs (continuous training, teacher training, Euro-Mediterranean Postgraduate Courses) available to initiate a network. There was a general agreement to prepare two project proposals one for continuous training and the other one for a postgraduate course

2.Co-Coordinator A.Ansal briefly summarised the available information concerning the Med-Campus projects. He proposed to postpone the application for a Med-Campus project to late 1998 due to the ongoing intense activities related to the Seismic Microzonation Book and due to the activities for the ESC General Assembly and EAEE Conference to be held during 1998.

Even though the EAEE-ESC Joint Task Group had three meetings and discussed above summarised issues and decided to jointly write a microzonation book, organise an independent workshop or symposium, it was not possible to finalise our efforts in producing the necessary outputs due to different factors. However, the Coordinators believe that it was very rewarding to share our experiences and to have the opportunity to discuss on the technical issues related to our task group during our meetings and during the open symposia that was organised. We believe that in these types of international and inter-associational activities more time and some supportive funds are necessary to be more productive. It is our proposal to extend our cooperation for one more term in order to be able to pursue some of our goals.