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California seismic official headed to Ecuador

By Loretta Kalb

Updated May 13, 2016 10:22 AM

Dr. H. Kit Miyamoto is the President and CEO of Miyamoto International, Inc. He is an earthquake/ structural engineer who works on disaster relief projects including in Japan, Haiti, Turkey, New Zealand, Nepal and Ecuador. The firm, with 20 offices worldwide, performs earthquake engineering and disaster mitigation, response and recovery. He is pictured in front of the ziggurat building in West Sacramento, which he retrofitted for increased seismic safety. May 31, 2011 Autumn Cruz acruz@sacbee.com

H. Kit Miyamoto, a member of the California Seismic Safety Commission, is headed to Ecuador this weekend to help assess damage from the recent series of earthquakes.

Miyamoto, president of Miyamoto International and Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, is to arrive with a team from the company on Sunday, according to the staff of the commission. He plans to travel to Portoviejo and other hard-hit areas and will meet with representatives of government agencies and local organizations as well as international agencies and businesses.

Miyamoto said information gathered after a major earthquake is especially important and that his group is eager to assist Ecuador “in any way we can.”

The April 16, 7.8-magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Ecuador injured 7,000 people and killed at least 570. A 6.1-magnitude aftershock occurred on Wednesday.

Loretta Kalb: 916-321-1073, @LorettaSacBee

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "California seismic official headed to Ecuador."

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