The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkmenistan conducted a final seminar under the project "Strengthening National Capacity for Seismic Risk Assessment, Prevention, and Response to Potential Earthquakes", jointly implemented by UNDP and the Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. The event was held at the UN House in Ashgabat and brought together all project national stakeholders, including partners who contributed to its successful implementation.

The seminar featured international UNDP consultant on seismic risks, Sergey Tyagunov, who led a comprehensive assessment on seismic vulnerability and risks, including relevant capacity building sessions carried out within the project. Based on this work, Mr. Tyagunov developed a textbook titled "Seismic Risk", which is expected to be a valuable educational resource for the country’s relevant educational courses on seismology.

In the concluding session of the seminar, participants discussed prospective directions for assessing and mitigating seismic risks in Turkmenistan. Key suggestions included conducting research in other seismically active regions of the country and establishing an international laboratory at the new campus of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction in collaboration with UNDP and the Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan.

"Turkmenistan is known to be among the most seismically active countries not only in Central Asia but also worldwide. This underscores the importance and relevance of this project, aimed at enhancing the preparedness of government agencies to respond to emergencies caused by earthquakes,” said Narine Sahakyan, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan. “We look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with the Institute of Seismology and other national partners in the areas of seismology and disaster risk reduction in Turkmenistan."

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The joint project, "Strengthening National Capacity for Seismic Risk Assessment, Prevention, and Response to Potential Earthquakes," launched in 2018, has achieved significant results.

For the first time in Turkmenistan, a comprehensive seismic hazard assessment of Ashgabat was conducted using advanced research methodologies and unique geographic information systems (GIS), ASTERRISK and ASTERHAZ, were developed for seismic risk calculations. The project key results also include preparation of seismic micro-zoning map of the city, publication of an English-Russian-Turkmen terminology dictionary on geology, geophysics, and seismology, and preparation of guidelines on reducing the seismic vulnerability of buildings and managing the aftermath of earthquakes as well as development of recommendations improve seismic monitoring and establish an early warning system.

Furthermore, as part of the project, a draft law “On Seismic Safety” was prepared to strengthen Turkmenistan’s legislative framework in disaster risk reduction and essential equipment and software were provided for the Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan.