The 4th International Conference on Performance-based Design in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering (PBD-IV) is held in Beijing, China. The PBD-IV Conference is organized under the auspices of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering - Technical Committee TC203 on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering and Associated Problems (ISSMGE-TC203). The PBD-I, PBD-II, and PBD-III events in Japan (2009), Italy (2012), and Canada (2017) respectively, were highly successful events for the international earthquake geotechnical engineering community. The PBD events have been excellent companions to the International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering (ICEGE) series that TC203 has held in Japan (1995), Portugal (1999), USA (2004), Greece (2007), Chile (2011), New Zealand (2015), and Italy (2019). The goal of PBD-IV is to provide an open forum for delegates to interact with their international colleagues and advance performance-based design research and practices for earthquake geotechnical engineering.

The Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco area on October 17, 1989, causing 63 deaths and $10 billion worth of damage. This book reviews existing research on the Loma Prieta quake and draws from it practical lessons that could be applied to other earthquake-prone areas of the country. The volume contains seven keynote papers presented at a symposium on the earthquake and includes an overview written by the committee offering recommendations to improve seismic safety and earthquake awareness in parts of the country susceptible to earthquakes.

This volume develops a research plan to study and monitor Mount Rainier, an active Cascade volcano located about 35 km southeast of the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. The book also addresses issues of communication and coordination among geoscientists, social scientists, planners, and responsible authorities, so that research results can be used to support hazard reduction efforts.