Huge economic losses from natural disasters, including nearly 100 000 fatalities world wide in 1999 alone, gave rise to a renewed recognition by government, industry and the public that national governments and international agencies cannot simply go on as they have in the past. Changes in financial cover, better enforcement procedures for building standards, better business contingency planning, and well developed emergency response were demanded from all sides. In this volume an international group of experts present recent research on the variety of approaches adopted by different countries to assess natural hazard risks and the incentives for mitigating and financing them, the particular focus being in earthquake risks. The volume also presents an in-depth summary of recent reforms in Turkey related to seismic risks, with comparative research from many other countries. Linkages are emphasised between science and engineering infrastructure, insurance and risk management, and public policy.