Incorporation of the Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS)

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:

  1. Develop policies and foster innovative ideas for the urgent improvement of strong-motion measurement and its applications;
  2. Promote the advancement of strong-motion measurement in densely urbanized areas and other locations of special significance likely to be subjected to earthquakes;
  3. Encourage and assist the rapid, convenient, and effective distribution of strong-motion data according to COSMOS standards;
  4. Strengthen, expand, and support strong-motion programs;
  5. Serve as a consortium through which programs and institutions can work to solve mutual problems with instruments, data, and data dissemination and utilization; and
  6. Advance systematic user influence on data acquisition and data dissemination processes.

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.

Bruce A. Bolt
President