Workshop on seismicity and earthquake engineering in the extended mediterranean region

UNESCO and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) launched the Reducing Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (RELEMR) programme in 1993 with the purpose of assessing, evaluating and reducing expected earthquake losses in this region. 

RELEMR was based on PAMERAR, a similar programme which had been developed previously in the Arab Region.
The Mediterranean region, because of its geological structure, seismicity, active tectonics, topography and climate, has been frequently subjected to natural disasters resulting in great losses of life and property. Field studies and investigations of disasters indicate that large portions of the land surface, population, infrastructure, and industry of the region have been subjected to earthquakes in the past or will be subjected to earthquakes in the future. 

RELEMR is carried out with the European Mediterranean Seismic Centre (EMSC), it is associated with the Council of Europe through the Open Partial Agreement for Major Hazard and it is cooperating with EMR earth science organizations. Countries from the western Mediterranean region also participate in some aspects of the programme. For instance the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) coordinated the exchange of data among EMR countries; other organizations that provided notable cooperation include the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Observatories and the Research Facilities of European Seismology (ORFEUS).