Summary

The Training and Communication for Earthquake Risk Assessment (TREQ) Project was designed to demonstrate how earthquake hazard and risk assessment can inform decision makers in the development of risk reduction policies, as well as how earthquake risk can be properly communicated to stakeholders and the public in general.

[PDF Executive Summary English]

Objectives

The project was organized into two main parts. The first one aimed to develop capacity for urban earthquake hazard and risk assessment in Latin America, Quito (Ecuador), Cali (Colombia), and Santiago de los Caballeros (Dominican Republic); while the second part was to develop training, educational and communication material to enhance the understanding of earthquake risk worldwide. The program was tailored for a wide spectrum of stakeholders, categorized into four main groups: governance (decision-makers/public authorities), industry (practitioners and professionals), academia (researchers and professors), and the community.

Collaborators

Ecuador

Municipalidad de Quito

Escuela Politécnica Nacional (EPN)

Instituto Geofísico (IG)

Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Pichincha (CICP)

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

Dominican Republic

Municipalidad de Santiago de los Caballeros

Servicio Geológico Nacional (SGN)

Oficina Nacional de Evaluación Sísmica y Vulnerabilidad de Infraestructuras y Edificaciones (ONESVIE)

Comité Técnico Nacional (CTN)

Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM)

Colombia

Municipalidad de Santiago de Cali

Servicio Geológico Colombiano (SGC)

Departamento Administrativo de Planeación Municipal (DAPM), Cali

Universidad EAFIT, Medellin

Unidad Nacional de Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (UNGRD)

Costa Rica

Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)

Mexico

Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC)

Location

The project was implemented in the pilot cities of Quito (Ecuador), Cali (Colombia), and Santiago de los Caballeros (Dominican Republic). Additionally, the project also reached more than 600 participants from 64 countries for its online OpenQuake training sessions.

TREQ Project

Training and Communication for Earthquake Risk Assessment (TREQ)

English version

Versión en español

Overview

Risk Assessment

Training

Outreach

Photos

Reports

Urban risk assessment in Latin America and the Caribbean

The following deliverables were generated in this component: seismic hazard and risk assessment at the urban scale for the three TREQ cities: Quito (Ecuador), Cali (Colombia), and Santiago de los Caballeros (Dominican Republic). State-of-art models were developed for each city in close collaboration with local partners. The input models and results are available at the URL address below:

[github.com/gem/treq-riesgo-urbano/]

a. City reports

Seismic Risk Assessment for the Metropolitan District of Quito

[Evaluación de Riesgo Sísmico para el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito]

[Español]

Seismic Risk Assessment for Santiago de Cali

[Evaluación de Riesgo Sísmico para Santiago de Cali]

[Español]

Seismic Risk Assessment for Santiago de los Caballeros

[Evaluación de Riesgo Sísmico para Santiago de los Caballeros]

[Español]

b. Seismic Hazard Assessment

PSHA models and datasets for urban hazard assessment

[Modelos probabilísticos de amenaza sísmica (PSHA) y conjuntos de datos para la evaluación de la amenaza a nivel urbano]

[PDF English]

Probabilistic seismic hazard model for the Dominican Republic

[Modelo Probabilístico de Amenaza Sísmica para la República Dominicana]

[PDF English | Español] [Download Model]

Seismic hazard results (rock and soil conditions)

[Resultados de amenaza sísmica (condiciones en roca y en suelo)]

[PDF English]

Seismic hazard analysis at the urban scale

[Análisis de la amenaza sísmica a escala urbana]

[PDF English]

c. Seismic Risk Assessment

Executive summary Urban seismic risk assessment for the cities of Quito, Cali and Santiago de los Caballeros

[Resumen ejecutivo sobre la evaluación del riesgo sísmico urbano para las ciudades de Quito, Cali y Santiago de los Caballeros]

[PDF English]

Building classes in Quito, Cali and Santiago de los Caballeros

[Tipologías constructivas en Quito, Cali and Santiago de los Caballeros]

[PDF Español]

Geo-referenced exposure database of population and buildings in the TREQ city

[Base de datos de exposición georreferenciada de población y edificios en cada ciudad de TREQ]

[Cali] [Quito] [Santiago]

Database of fragility and vulnerability functions for each building class present in the exposure model

[Base de datos de funciones de fragilidad y vulnerabilidad para cada clase de edificio presente en el modelo de exposición]

[Data]

Maps and risk metrics generated for each city

[Mapas y métricas de riesgo para cada ciudad]

[Cali] [Quito] [Santiago]

d. City scenarios

Database with ruptures selected for scenario analysis

[Base de datos con rupturas seleccionadas para análisis de escenarios]

[Cali] [Quito] [Santiago]

Scenario hazard assessment for the representative earthquakes in Quito, Cali and Santiago de los Caballeros

[Evaluación del escenarios de amenaza para sismos representativos en Quito, Cali y Santiago de los Caballeros]

[PDF English]

e. Urban Applications

Earthquake induced landslides and liquefaction in Cali

[Deslizamientos y licuefacción inducidos por sismo en Cali]

[PDF English]

Improving global capacity for seismic hazard and risk

This part of the program was designed to improve the understanding and awareness of earthquake hazard and risk, and to help bridge the gap between the information produced in detailed hazard and risk assessment studies and its communication to a wide variety of stakeholders (which range from local experts with the remit to assess seismic risk to decision-makers responsible for the implementation of risk reduction measures).

a. Website for OpenQuake online training

The OpenQuake online training was designed for different types of audience with diverse background and expertise. Through this platform, participants interacted with GEM scientific and technical teams to learn the main concepts of earthquake risk assessment, along with the basic features of the engine.

[English | Español]

b. OpenQuake manual in online format

The official manual has been converted from latex into reStructuredText format made possible by @USAID support. The new manual is now online in HTML format and can be accessed at:

[Webpage English]

c. Video tutorials on seismic hazard and risk analysis using OpenQuake

The project has produced 15 videos on technical training using the OpenQuake-engine (in English and Spanish), 7 videos with material to disseminate the models and results of urban risk assessment in the TREQ cities, and 2 videos for communicating earthquake risk to the general public.

OQ Engine Video Tutorials [English | Español]

d. Manual to perform seismic hazard analysis

This manual presents the basic concepts of classical PSHA and the wide spectrum of alternatives to model seismicity and uncertainties (epistemic and aleatory) in the OpenQuake-engine. Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) is the principal methodology for assessing the potential hazard posed by earthquakes. The hazard maps generated with the hazard calculator are widely used in national seismic codes for hazard zonation and structural design provisions.

[PDF English] [Example materials] [More info]

e. Training the Trainers

TREQ has engaged and collaborated with five university professors from Latin America to conceptualize, create and implement a unified course for the study of seismic risk at the university level. Brochures in English and Spanish further explain the concept behind this initiative and outline the early results and experiences of the professors from Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.

[PDF English | Español]

Communicating and raising earthquake risk awareness

The activities in this component focused on raising awareness of the public on earthquake hazard and risk by training a diverse group of disaster risk reduction (DRR) professionals together with personnel in charge of communicating risk to the public, and by conducting community-based workshops in selected areas of the pilot cities by those who were trained by the project.

a. Educational material to raise seismic risk awareness: Application for the Metropolitan Area of Aburra Valley (AMVA)

[Material didáctico para sensibilizar a la comunidad sobre el riesgo sísmico: Aplicación para el área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá (AMVA)]

[PDF Español]

b. Video to communicate earthquake risk to the general public

[Video para comunicar el riesgo de terremoto al público en general]

[English | Español]

c. Guidelines for teachers for the development of an introductory course on seismic risk

[Guía para profesores para el desarrollo de un curso introductorio de riesgo sísmico]

[PDF Español]

d. Urban risk mitigation and response profiles for the TREQ cities

[Perfiles de respuesta y mitigación de riesgos urbanos para las ciudades TREQ]

[Cali] [Quito] [Santiago]

News articles

Events

Understanding seismic risk through capacity development and knowledge sharing webinar draws hundreds of participants from around the world

[Article] [Event page English | Español] [Video]

Presentation of the national PSHA model for the Dominican Republic: a joint webinar hosted by Servicio Geológico Nacional Dominicano in cooperation with GEM, Oficina Nacional de Evaluación Sísmica y Vulnerabilidad de Infraestructura. and USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance .

[Event flyer Español] [Video English | Español]

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Articles

More at GEM News section

The TREQ project newsletter was intented to share activities in urban risk assessment, and earthquake risk training and education materials with a wide-range of local stakeholders from the academia, private and public sectors, as well as the civil society in Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond.