New York Times, the

US, Japanese and Indonesian academics have been working in collaboration to establish an academic network; a 'Disaster University.' 'Something like 80 percent of disasters over the last couple of decades have been in the Asia-Pacific, and one of the problems is we’ve been in response mode and recovery mode, and not in preparation mode,' said M.R.C. Greenwood, president of the University of Hawaii...

What proved to be a harmless earthquake in the desert on March 11, instead provided a disquieting reminder of how far California lags behind other earthquake-prone places — notably Japan and Mexico — in completing an effective alert system that is clearly within technological and financial reach, reports Adam Nagourney for the New York Times. State lawmakers have introduced legislation calling for an expedited program to raise the $80 million needed to complete the program...

After enduring last summer’s destructive drought, farmers, ranchers and officials across the parched Western states had hoped that plentiful winter snows would replenish the ground and refill their rivers, breaking the grip of one of the worst dry spells in American history, reports Jack Healy for the New York Times. And no such luck, he says...

Andrew M. Cuomo, the governor of New York is proposing to set aside $400 million for buying homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy, have them demolished and then turn the land into natural buffers to protect coastal communities. The buyout program is awaiting the approval of the federal housing agency...

Officials in the USA are working on plans to ensure that flood, earthquake or other disaster situations would not cause nuclear meltdowns such as that of the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Action to prepare for a dual meltdown was not a case of 'forewarned is forearmed,' but more like 'forewarned is forestalled'...

'Each catastrophe should trigger a national conversation that should lead to a set of mutually-supportive private- and public-sector actions to build resilience at the community level and reduce future risk,' stated William H. Hook, senior policy fellow at the American Meteorological Society...

This piece addresses the very pertinent debate about whether rebuilding in the aftermath of a disaster is always the wisest option, especially in high-risk areas that may experience the same devastation again and again...

The most disaster-prone areas have been mapped in Rwanda, Jean Baptiste Nsengiyumva, the Director in charge of Research and Public Awareness told The New Times. Floods, landslides and strong winds are the most common hazards in the country...