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The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) organized several webinars in October and November, two of which highlighted GEM’s work on the global earthquake model and a study on the potential impact of earthquakes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On October 23rd, EERI’s e-Meet the Leaders event featured GEM’s Vitor Silva as a special guest where he shared his experience in structural vulnerability and probabilistic seismic risk assessment in Europe, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. He also talked about the development of the first comprehensive global seismic risk model released in December 2018.

On November 19th, GEM, represented by Vitor Silva and Nicole Paul, participated in the EERI’s webinar on Earthquakes in Pandemics: Experiences from Earthquakes in Europe. The webinar focused on the potential impact of earthquakes on infection rates and disaster response, based on case studies in Europe (Portugal and Croatia). Vitor and Nicole presented their recent article in Earthquake Spectra titled, “Potential Impact of Earthquakes during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.” Joining them were two other panelists who were in Zagreb during the March 2020 earthquake (M5.5) and were heavily involved with the impact assessment following the earthquake. The juxtaposition of a theoretical analysis with empirical observation of the coincident pandemic and earthquake impact in Zagreb demonstrated the importance of understanding the combined impact of natural disasters during the pandemic, or other events that can easily overwhelm local capacity to respond effectively.

Founded in 1948, EERI's mission is to reduce earthquake risk by (1) advancing the science and practice of earthquake engineering, (2) improving understanding of the impact of earthquakes on the physical, social, economic, political, and cultural environment, and (3) advocating comprehensive and realistic measures for reducing the harmful effects of earthquakes.