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  • NEAM-COMMITMENT | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects NEAM-COMMITMENT North-Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Tsunami Risk Management and Planning Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background NEAM-COMMITMENT aims to improve tsunami risk management and planning in the NEAM region. It endeavors to contribute primarily to two key components of tsunami risk governance: capacity building through tsunami hazard assessment and mapping at the national scale, and improved tsunami evacuation planning at the local level through a novel multi-hazard approach. Guidelines will be drafted for the methodologies applied to develop the national tsunami inundation and local tsunami evacuation maps to contribute to improved tsunami risk management planning. Duration: 2025 - 2027 More details: https://civil-protection-knowledge-network.europa.eu/projects/neam-commitment#inpage-section-description Objectives The project has two objectives: to develop national tsunami inundation maps in Cyprus, Greece and Spain through the methodology applied to produce tsunami inundation maps for evacuation planning in Italy, aiming to achieve compatible tsunami inundation maps across the NEAM region; to address the need for a multi-hazard approach for effective tsunami evacuation management to complement existing tsunami evacuation management guidelines. The proposed new approach focuses on multi-hazard cascading effects concerning tsunami evacuation and emergency management and will be piloted in local sites in Greece and Italy. Collaborators NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ATHENS Greece Coordinator National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy Fundación hidráulica ambiental de Cantabria, Spain Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Italy Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, Italy University of Malaga, Spain Municipality of Lipari, Italy Academy of Athens, Greece The General Secretariat for Civil Protection - Greece Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of Cyprus Funding partner: Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) Location Southern Europe Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

  • AZERBAIJAN DRR | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects AZERBAIJAN DRR Risk modeling and scenario analysis for Azerbaijan - Seismic risk analysis Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background One of the analyses to be conducted under the World Bank Groups' Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs), is to look at the fiscal and economic impacts of disasters in Azerbaijan, including the size of the macro-fiscal risk posed by earthquakes, floods, and droughts, and identify potential opportunities to increase financial resilience. For the risk modeling and scenario analysis for Azerbaijan, the GEM Risk Team further expands the Azerbaijan model in GEM's Global Seismic Risk Model, by projecting the exposure and risk to 2050 by taking into account the evolving demographics and socio-economic conditions in Azerbaijan. Duration: 2022 Objectives The World Bank is preparing the Country Climate and Development Report for Azerbaijan. The CCDR aims to inform policy dialogue and engagement with the Government of Azerbaijan. This provides an opportunity to carry out several analytical pieces, including in the area of Disaster Risk Management, bringing together existing knowledge on the economic and social impacts of disasters and climate change, and delivering new analytical insights to support policy recommendations. Collaborators GEM Foundation Funding partner: World Bank Group Location Azerbaijan Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

  • GFDRR-DFID | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects GFDRR-DFID GFDRR-DFID Challenge Funds Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the UK Department for International Development's (DFID) competitive Challenge Fund pilots new and innovative approaches to overcoming technical and technological challenges in order to strengthen disaster and climate risk decision-making in developing countries. To this end, this project is supporting the development of data, products, and approaches to support disaster risk management decision-making and build resilience, including through better information, but also strengthening key steps in moving from information to insight and behaviour change. Each challenge is focusing on the development of a database with hazard footprints, exposure information and vulnerability models. The viability of the databases will be demonstrated using exposure data for Tanzania and another DFID priority country. Objectives The project is divided into three components. The British Geological Survey leads the development of a data schema and data for a multi-hazard database (Challenge 1) while GEM and University College London lead the development of a global exposure database (Challenge 2) and open vulnerability platform for evaluating risk (Challenge 3) respectively. GEM also contributes to Challenge Fund 1 and 3. GEM leads Challenge Fund 2 on the development of a global exposure data framework, which includes the physical vulnerability characteristics and exposure taxonomy. The aim is to identify the most important vulnerability characteristics; ways to account for uncertainties in exposure and vulnerability models; type of assets that should be supported by the vulnerability and exposure database; and the most common and useful intensity measure types. The objective of this project is to develop a Data Exploration Tool to promote the ability of a user to access, understand and use hazard, exposure and vulnerability data stored in a format that follows the data schema developed by the Challenge Fund consortia. British Geological Survey (BGS) leads the development of a data schema and data for a multi-hazard database (Challenge 1) GEM Foundation leads the development of a global exposure database (Challenge 2) University College London (UCL) leads the development of open vulnerability platform for evaluating risk (Challenge 3) Various organizations also participated and contributed to the project such as the Geological Survey of Tanzania; Ardhi University (Tanzania); Dar Es Salaam University (Tanzania); DFID Tanzania; Prime Minister's Office - Disaster Management Department (Tanzania); DoMA (Malawi); INGC (Mozambique); Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development (Uganda); ImageCat (USA); Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT Indonesia); NSET (Nepal); IDF (Switzerland); UA (Netherlands); NGI (Norway); NOC (UK); CIMA (Italy); and UCL-EPI (UK). Locations Tanzania and neighbouring countries Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 A consortium led by the GEM Foundation with partners ImageCat Inc. and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team completed recently an open exposure database for multi-hazard risk assessment... The University College London (UCL) EPICentre and CatLin XL hosted the second workshop held on July 27 in London to collect feedback. The GFDRR-DFID Challenge Fund projects on the development of exposure, vulnerability and hazard footprints databases kicked off with a 2-day inception workshop. Anchor3 Publications GFDRR-DFID Challenge Funds Round 2 How can innovative approaches make communities more resilient to climate change and natural disasters? GFDRR-UK Aid Challenge Fund: Final Learning Report: Value of Risk Information for Decision Making May 31, 2018 Data schema and data: for multi-hazard database (BGS), for global exposure database (GEM), for a global database of vulnerability functions (UCL) Extensible Data Schemas for Multiple Hazards, Exposure and Vulnerability Data published as part of the UNDRR GAR2019 .

  • EU DRR | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects EU DRR Regional risk modelling and scenario analysis for EU Member States - Seismic risk analysis and exposure data Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background This project supports the World Bank Technical Assistance project "Economic Analysis of Prevention and Preparedness in European Union Member States and Countries under EU Civil Protection Mechanism". The GEM Risk Team provides exposure and probabilistic seismic risk assessments for the 27 EU member states and 6 participating states, building upon the EFEHR ESHM20 hazard and ESRM20 exposure datasets [insert link www.efehr.org ], adding educational and healthcare building stock, and forecasting exposure to 2050. Further, retrofitted vulnerability curves are derived to inform the seismic impact analyses and a cost-benefit analysis. Duration: 2020-2021 Objectives The project is conducted in collaboration with the European Commission’s (EC) Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). The objectives of this project are to: 1. Provide regionally-consistent probabilistic seismic risk metrics across Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) countries for population and selected structure types, to inform macro-economic analysis that is to be conducted by the World Bank project team. 2. Provide seismic impact analysis for two selected earthquake scenarios with and without specified DRM intervention, to estimate the impact of that intervention on i) loss due to direct damage and ii) fatalities. This will contribute to cost-benefit analysis of EU-funded DRM investments conducted by the WB project team using the Triple-Dividend framework. Collaborators GEM Foundation Funding partner: World Bank Group Locations EU Member States Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

  • SIGMA3 | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects SIGMA3 SeismIc hazard and Ground Motion Assessment Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Work Packages Training Dissemination Photos Publications Anchor 6 Overview SIGMA3 is a research and development (R&D) program on SeIsmic hazard and Ground Motion Assessment. It is the 3rd part of a larger R&D initiative initiated in 2011 to support innovation in the field of probabilistic hazard assessment (PSHA). SIGMA3 is fully funded by the industry at 100%. The program grounds its roots in methodological developments, as well as in the identified shortcomings of the two preceding editions, labelled SIGMA and SIGMA2. The previous two programs have led to insightful datasets and models to accompany the inception of probabilistic site-specific PSHA studies in low-to-moderate seismicity areas, such as France, for instance. However, nowadays, additional progress is still needed to reduce epistemic uncertainties and improve confidence in probabilistic seismic hazard studies. To this end, SIGMA3 gathers a group of researchers and engineers actively involved in the seismic hazard community and recognized for their expertise. Objectives The SIGMA program is a Research and Development project about seismic hazard and ground motion. It has the objective to improve data and develop methods necessary to best estimate SHA by producing Hazard levels more adapted to the site. Improve available practices for safety demonstration to get consensus with the largest international community for R&D and industrial applications Improve confidence and accountability in seismic hazard assessments by quantifying and propagating uncertainties on Seismic Source and Ground Motion Characterization Strengthen the link between seismologists and engineers, and share feedback among consortium members Collaborators Steering Committee The Steering Committee handles strategic and technical decision-making in the SIGMA3 program and provides recommendations on the program’s orientation, informed by the Scientific Committee’s expertise. Composition: Emmanuel Viallet (EDF France), Fabrice Hollender (CEA France), Vojtech Spanihel (CEZ Group Czech Republic), Masato Nakajima (CRIEPI Japan), Albert Kottke (PG&E USA), Fabienne Chawla (SwissNuclear Switzerland), Ludovic Fulop (VTT Finland) Scientific Committee The members of the SIGMA3 Scientific Committee are independent experts in their field, providing recommendations, insights, and reviews on activities performed through the program. Composition: Philippe RENAULT (Chairperson), Norman ABRAHAMSON, Laurent BOLLINGER, Emmanuel CHALJUB, Maria José CRESPO, John DOUGLAS, Zeynep GULERCE, Sadanori HIGASHI, Pierre LABBE, Ian MAIN, Adrian RODRIGUEZ-MAREK, Alain PECKER, Gabriel TORO, Kris VANNESTE, Jérôme VERGNE Location Global (coordinating agency located in France) Sigma 3 Technical Program Supported by ´Electricité de France (EDF), GEM’s activities cover three work packages: For more details on Sigma3's work packages (WP), click here . 1. Probabilistic Fault Displacement Hazard Analysis. This activity builds upon work carried out in 2024 within the framework of a collaboration with OGS, Trieste. 2. Development and methodologies for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment. In this WP, we will further develop capabilities to compute the conditional aftershock hazard and propagate epistemic uncertainties efficiently. 3. Development of a Simulation Platform. The objective of this activity is to generate a set of Python tools for evaluating fundamental components of a hazard input model - namely, source, ground motion, and site effects - used in Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) computations. Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Conferences and Events For the latest events, training, seminars/webinars and conferences, please visit: https://sigma-programs.com/dissemination-sigma-3/conferences-and-events/ Anchor 4 SIGMA3 - SeismIc hazard and Ground Motion Assessment This section contains outreach activities conducted by the SIGMA3 program. For more details, click here . 1. News - https://sigma-programs.com/dissemination-sigma-3/news/ 2. Conferences and Events - https://sigma-programs.com/dissemination-sigma-3/conferences-and-events/ Anchor3 BUSINESS NEWS 1st General Assembly - June 2025, Helsinki (Finland) 1/1 BUSINESS NEWS Sigma3 Kick-Off - 11 June 2024, Aix-en-Provence (France) 1/1 Publications SIGMA3 - Publications and Reports This section contains project publications and reports as they become available. The list of currently available materials can be accessed here: https://sigma-programs.com/sigma-3/dissemination-sigma-3/publications-reports/

  • SOLOMON ISLANDS EXPOSURE | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects SOLOMON ISLANDS EXPOSURE Assessing the Risk Exposure of Road Network to Climate and Natural Hazard Risks in Solomon Islands Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background This project aims to conduct a robust multi-hazard risk assessment of the road network to climate and natural hazards in the Solomon Islands, both historically and under future climate projections. The project includes three main dimensions: - Characterization of the climate and natural hazards - Physical vulnerability of the road network - Multi-criteria criticality analysis The three main outputs are: - Multi-hazard maps - Road network risk exposure analysis (global risk score) - Identification of "first priority" road segments and estimation of their rehabilitation costs The GEM Hazard Team supports the project by computing seismic hazard maps and uses these to produce maps to classify low to high risks of earthquake hazards, according to their intensity and frequency. Duration: 2021 Objectives Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share a major common feature: they are among the most exposed nations to natural hazards and climate change. SIDS are also characterized by insularity and geographic remoteness, as well as small geographic area, economies, and population, all of which increase their social and economic vulnerability. This project aims to assist the Solomon Islands to better manage climate and disaster risks by improving the understanding of risk and the use of this information for risk reduction decision-making, and the design and implementation of investments at the provincial and community level. Collaborators GEM Foundation, ARIA Technologies, Actimar, Suez Consulting, Setec Group Funding partner: World Bank Group Location Solomon Islands Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

  • TURKEY DRR | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects TURKEY DRR Seismic risk and exposure data for Turkey Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background The World Bank is developing a thematic Paper on Building Climate and Disaster Resilience in Turkey that will apply a new World Bank Guidance Note on how to prepare resilience and adaptation strategies. The Guidance Note provides a practical guide for designing national strategies for climate change adaptation and resilience. It specifies actions that reflect universal principles of effective climate change adaptation and disaster resilience, emphasizing that each country needs to tailor the relative importance and sequencing of these actions to its specific needs and priorities. Given the best practice of mitigating natural hazards for a more resilient future, and the high risk of catastrophic earthquakes, the adaptation paper needs to consider seismic risk in Turkey. To contribute to the seismic risk component of this adaptation paper, the GEM Risk Team is responsible for the following tasks: - Assessment of earthquake ground shaking hazard in Turkey - Definition of the exposure: residential, commercial and industrial buildings; education and healthcare facilities; population - Assessment of vulnerability/fragility for the exposed elements - Risk modelling based on the current exposure - Risk projections to 2030 and 2050 (based on future socio-economic conditions) Duration: 2021 Objectives The World Bank thematic Paper on Building Climate and Disaster Resilience in Turkey aims to support the Turkish government by providing guidance on how to prepare resilience and adaptation strategies, including those related to earthquakes. The objectives of this project are to: 1. Provide deterministic and probabilistic seismic risk metrics in Turkey for population and selected structure types, to inform macro-economic and public finance analysis (conducted by the World Bank project team). 2. Provide seismic impact analysis for three earthquake scenarios aimed at reducing risk in Turkey to estimate the impact of these interventions on i) loss due to direct damage and ii) fatalities. Collaborators GEM Foundation Funding partner: World Bank Group Location Turkey Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

  • SARA Project | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects SARA Project South American Risk Assessment (SARA) Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Outcomes Training Outreach Photos Publications Anchor 6 Overview South America incorporates some of the most seismically active regions on the planet, where the South American subduction zone generates the forces to create the Andes Mountains and drives the occurrence of destructive earthquakes across Chile, western Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. In turn, the high vulnerability of many structures and the high population density of the main cities are factors that contribute to the region’s high seismic risk. In the last two decades alone, over 3,000 fatalities have been reported, and the economic losses have exceeded 30 billion USD (EM-DAT, www.emdat.be ). While expert capabilities exist in these countries to assess earthquake risk, the information, infrastructure, tools, and collaboration networks necessary to develop comprehensive knowledge among scientists and engineers and to move this knowledge into the mainstream of disaster risk reduction activities has been lacking. Objectives The approach is to bring together international best practice tools and methodologies with local expertise and knowledge needed to establish local ownership and define risk assessment objectives and priorities. GEM Foundation combined these elements and focused on developing local capacities across sectors (academic, public and private), across technical disciplines (e.g., hazard, risk, IT), and through the implementation of disaster risk reduction policies and programs. The program of capacity development was initiated in 2013 with the South America Risk Assessment (SARA) Project to bring experts, institutions, and stakeholders from 7 countries to develop a regional assessment of earthquake hazard and risk. GEM provided its OpenQuake earthquake hazard and risk analysis software and other tools and databases freely and openly to all participants. More than 50 of the region’s experts across 17 institutions collaborated to produce critical data sets, develop common approaches, and develop open-source tools for both data collection and interpretation. Collaborators The SARA Project, completed in December 2015, provided the foundation for formal and informal collaborations at many levels and for many purposes. GEM subsequently developed formal partnerships across public and private sectors (e.g., SuraAmerica Insurance, the Geological Survey of Colombia, EcoPetrol), academic partnerships (e.g., EAFIT Univ, Univ del Norte, Univ Catolica Chile), non-profits (e.g., OSSO), and most recently, with municipal governments (Cali, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador), for urban risk assessments. (complete list ) Location Andean Region (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina) Introduction The project was carried out by experts and institutions from the region using to the extent possible open data sets, methodologies and tools such as GEM’s new open source software, the OpenQuake Engine and other OpenQuake tools. The project revolved around 5 modules: hazard, exposure and physical vulnerability, socio-economic vulnerability and resilience, loss estimates and city scenarios. The modules were carried out by a variety of experts/scientists from the region , in collaboration with the project coordinators and, where relevant, the GEM Secretariat. 1. Seismic hazard In early 2013 the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) published seven Requests for Proposal covering topics related to the compilation of basic datasets as well as the creation and calculation of an updated probabilistic seismic hazard input model for South America. Five consortia of South American researchers responded to this request and submitted proposals, which were reviewed in an initial stage by scientists working at the GEM Secretariat, and successively discussed in a meeting in Bogota held in December 2013 at the “Servicio Geologico Colombiano”. 2. Exposure and Physical Vulnerability Development of exposure datasets and vulnerability functions for South America at regional, national and/or sub-national levels have been considered. Modelling of exposure and physical vulnerability in the most earthquake prone countries is the main goal in the first stage of the project. 3. Social Vulnerability and Resilience The social vulnerability component of SARA comprises the development of composite indicators of social vulnerability and resilience along with their robustness testing and validation. The objective is to provide tools and information useful for understanding the potential effects of earthquakes in communities of South America. 4. National and subnational estimation of losses An open and transparent seismic risk assessment for the Andean countries has been performed. A probabilistic approach was followed for the calculation of risk metrics, that includes average annual economic and human loss maps, mean loss exceedance curves per country, and statistics that reveal which building classes are most vulnerable to earthquakes. 5. City Scenarios Following the objectives of SARA, the development of city scenarios is crucial for planning risk management strategies in cities with larger concentration of population and exposed to significant hazard. In this sense, the GEM Secretariat has been seeking collaborations with research groups and governmental stakeholders that will be the end users of case studies in Lima (Peru), Quito (Ecuador), Medellín (Colombia), Iquique, Osorno and Rancagua (Chile). Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Capacity development and institutional strengthening To promote sustainability, SARA’s work included the following: capacity development and institutional strengthening, and stakeholder engagement. The outcomes of activities in these areas are described below. Anchor 4 A blog by Carlos Costa featuring the SARA project workshop in Chile 2014. [News ] A wiki project website containing technical information about the SARA project. [Website ] Anchor3 BUSINESS NEWS Quito workshops 2015 1/3 BUSINESS NEWS Lima workshops 2015 1/2 Publications SARA Project Executive Summary [PDF ] Probabilistic Seismic Risk Assessment Of The Residential Building Stock In South America [PDF ] A conference paper on Building A Ground-Motion Logic Tree For South America Within The Gem-Sara Project Framework [PDF ] SARA (South America Risk Assessment Project Workshop) on “Inventory of Quaternary deformation of South America” [PDF ]

  • MYANMAR RISK MODELLING | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects MYANMAR RISK MODELLING Development of an Earthquake Risk Model for Myanmar. GEM contribution to ADB TA 9307-MYA: Strengthening Climate and Disaster Resilience of Myanmar Communities Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background The Government of Myanmar has identified in its disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) related policy frameworks the increasing suffering of the population from disasters, and the need for support in strengthening resilience to extreme weather events. Accordingly, since 2015, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has supported the Government of Myanmar develop a National Framework for Community Disaster Resilience, which identifies potential opportunities for strengthening resilience of communities through investments in key sectors and themes of development, such as, agriculture, rural development, and financial inclusion, among others. The proposed technical assistance (TA) project responds to the request from the Government of Myanmar to support its implementation of the National Framework for Community Disaster Resilience. As part of this project, the ADB contracted the GEM Foundation to provide updated seismic hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and seismic risk information for Myanmar, with risk information presented at the third administrative level. Objective The main objective of this project was to develop, in collaboration with experts from the Myanmar Earthquake Committee, updated exposure, vulnerability, and seismic risk information for Myanmar, with risk information presented at the third administrative level. Collaborators GEM Foundation, Myanmar Earthquake Committee (MEC) Funding partner: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Location Myanmar Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

  • ARISTOTLE | Global Earthquake Model Foundation

    Projects ARISTOTLE Multi-Hazard Expert Advice System for ERCC Versión en español English version Share Facebook LinkedIn Overview Anchor 6 Background The All Risk Integrated System TOwards Trans-boundary hoListic Early-warning or ARISTOTLE consortium combines a number of services that enable a rapid understanding of events from various natural hazards (earthquakes and tsunami, volcanoes, severe weather and floods) and how they might unfold, thus aiding a deeper interpretation of the resulting hazards and impact. The GEM Foundation is supporting the consortium by providing an assessment of the impact of earthquakes using GEM's global exposure and vulnerability models, with a focus on metrics such as collapsed buildings and displaced people, such that it may provide an added value to existing rapid loss assessment services such as the USGS's Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER). Visit http://pilot.aristotle.ingv.it/ for more details about the project. Duration: 2022 - 2028 Objectives ARISTOTLE aims to provide Multi-Hazard Advice to the European Research Coordination Centre, either in advance of / during the activation of the EC Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM), in order to increase preparedness and response levels of the EU and to improve the ERCC’s assessment capacity. Collaborators ARISTOTLE is a multi-disciplinary partnership consisting of world-leading scientific centres in the areas of Earth and Climate sciences, providing operational and monitoring services, early warning and information systems as well as contributing to innovation and research actions. Location Global (Rome, Italy) Anchor 1 Anchor 5 Anchor 4 Anchor3 Publications

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