An agreement has been reached to form a public benefit nonprofit corporation entitled, "Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS)." The interim officers are President Bruce A. Bolt, Secretary William U. Savage, and Treasurer Chris D. Poland. The Honorary President of COSMOS is Professor George Housner, long a proponent of enhanced strong-motion recording systems. The decision was taken based on a charter agreement between the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The sponsoring organization is the NSF-funded U.S. Committee for the Advancement of Strong Motion Programs (CASMP), whose Chairman is Dr. Carl Stepp.
An office has been established at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center at the University of California, Berkeley, 1301 South 46th Street, Richmond, CA 94804-4698. The telephone number is (510) 231-9436; the fax number (510) 231-9471. The purposes of the corporation as defined by the COSMOS charter are as follows:
The incorporation of COSMOS to represent ultimately all U.S. organizations operating, disseminating, and using earthquake strong motion is an advance of high historical magnitude. Earthquake engineering, seismic code considerations, risk mapping, and emergency response will all benefit significantly.