News Geospatial is the future By: Jul 2, 2018 Share Facebook LinkedIn The second edition of the European symposium on Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial, which took place on July 15-17 in Como (Italy), was a great occasion for GEM to relate with experts and leading organizations in the field of open data, but also to show progress in the development of its tools. The OpenQuake Platform and the Integrated Risk Toolkit were presented to a diverse and curious audience, impressed by the performance and scalability of the tools. Questions raised were mostly about the value of open data and the importance of communicating open licenses, as often the concept of licensing is associated with commercial activities rather than as a way to release resources to the public. The attendance was excellent, with more than 400 people – the maximum capacity of Aula magna and the presence of distinguished experts in geospatial data (Patrick Hogan from NASA, presenting a project developed in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano and Georg Gartner, a master in server and operating systems among the others), and for GEM it was a good chance to meet new organizations and potential stakeholders. In the run up to FOSS4G Seoul, which will take place in September 2015, GEM is planning to strengthen the communication of its products and encourage the application of its resources worldwide. No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS

News GEM: 10 years of OpenQuake Engine (OQ) By: Jul 25, 2020 Share Facebook LinkedIn 450 combined OpenQuake engine citations from studies in 70+ countries around the world, helping advance seismic hazard and risk science. Last July 21st 2020 marked the 10th year anniversary of GEM’s flagship product – the OpenQuake Engine, a state-of-the-art, and open seismic hazard and risk analysis software. This would not have been possible without the generous support and commitment of its users, our public and private sponsors, project partners and academic collaborators from around the world. OpenQuake Engine V1 was launched in 2012 in Pavia, Italy. Since then, the OQ engine page has been accessed almost 11,000 times from at least 140 countries from the GEM website. The papers and have a combined citations of more than 400 from peer-reviewed studies and conference proceedings since 2014, helping advance seismic hazard and risk science. There have been 78 official releases of the OpenQuake Engine, with the latest version available for download . To date, more than 450 are active users from various parts of the world and disciplines and have participated in almost a thousand technical discussion threads through the OpenQuake Users Forum. Our team of hazard and risk scientists have trained more than a thousand individuals on the use of OpenQuake from more than 90 countries. “GEM is a groundbreaking initiative. From the scientific perspective, I am impressed with the extent and level of development of the tools such as OpenQuake,” Rosa Sobradelo, Senior Research Manager, Willis Research Network - Willis Towers Watson, UK. The OpenQuake Engine is complemented by a wide range of data, information and tools that are accessible on the OpenQuake Platform (https://platform.openquake.org). The OQ Platform enables the community to freely explore, access, manipulate and visualize the computations from the OpenQuake engine using the OQ QGIS plugin. The platform also allows users to contribute, share and discuss new findings and results with the GEM community. Since 2015, more than 30,000 people have used the Platform from more than 3,300 cities around the world. The OpenQuake Engine is the software behind the development of another GEM flagship product: the Global Earthquake Hazard and Risk maps released to the public in December 2018. Using the OQ engine to develop the most comprehensive global assessment of earthquake hazard and risk to date, this milestone encapsulates the OQ engine’s contribution to earthquake risk understanding and disaster risk reduction in general. “This is a great contribution towards putting to the public an open data, collaborative effort with many partners on the best available data on earthquake risk around the world,” said Ricardo Mena Director of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in Geneva. Hundreds of researchers, modellers and other experts from 80+ countries have used the software. The Engine has been applied for verification of hazard calculations for the new generation of 30 national and regional hazard maps, including national and regional exposure and vulnerability models. The resulting outputs from the OQ engine support a wide range of disaster risk management purposes, including (re)insurance pricing and risk transfer, emergency response, recovery, and planning in support of the Sendai Framework for DRR at subnational, national and regional scales. Join the GEM Foundation on October 22nd, 2020 from 1600 to 1730 CET for a webinar that will feature presentations from the public, private and academic sectors on their experiences with GEM’s flagship product. The webinar will also be an opportunity to gather recommendations from the community of users and discuss possible future areas of OpenQuake engine collaborative development. Visit the event page . No images found. GALLERY 1/2 Gallery VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS

News GEM-World Bank/GFDRR-DFID challenge fund projects kick off By: Jul 2, 2018 Share Facebook LinkedIn The GFDRR-DFID Challenge Fund projects on the development of exposure, vulnerability and hazard footprints databases kicked off with a 2-day inception workshop held at GEM Headquarters from 10-11 April 2017. Several organizations attended the workshop led by World Bank’s GFDRR, British Geological Survey (BGS), GEM Foundation and the University College London (UCL). BGS 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. The goal of the workshop is to integrate the three Challenge Funds so that the final product contributes to the broader objectives of the building evidence for action on disaster risk management and the Sendai Framework. Alanna Simpson, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist and leader of the GFDRR Labs team notes that “GEM has done very well in the development of earthquake exposure data” but added that “the idea of the three Challenge Funds is for people to collect information - hazard, exposure and vulnerability - on the built environment at the same time for multiple perils.” She further adds that “the projects would not only develop an exposure database schema that will allow people to collect data only once for many purposes, but would also look into how this framework would be flexible enough to take the top down and bottom up information, including official and non-official data so that they can be used to build the whole picture.” The GFDRR-DFID Challenge Fund seeks to bridge the gap between technology and on-the-ground user needs in the field of disaster risk identification. The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is a global partnership that helps developing countries better understand and reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change.For more information, visit https://www.gfdrr.org and https://www.gfdrr.org/the-challenge-fund . No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS

Publications Exposure model for European seismic risk assessment Share Facebook LinkedIn Download 2020 | Peer-reviewed Building exposure and vulnerability models for seismic risk assessment have been the focus of a number of European projects in recent years, but there has never been a concerted effort among the research community to produce a uniform European risk model. The European Commission’s Horizon 2020 SERA project has a work package that is dedicated to that objective, through the development of an exposure model, an associated set of fragility/vulnerability models, and a database of socioeconomic indicators in order to calculate probabilistic integrated seismic risk at a European scale. This article provides details of the development of the first versions of the European exposure model that describe the distribution of the main residential, industrial and commercial building classes across all countries in Europe, as well as their occupants and replacement costs. The v0.1 of the European exposure model has been integrated within the Global Earthquake Model’s global exposure and risk maps. Preliminary analyses using the model show that almost 35% of the residential population in Europe is exposed to a 475-year return period peak ground acceleration (PGA) hazard of at least 0.1 g, thus highlighting the importance of European seismic risk modeling and mitigation.

News OQ rolls out new Building Classification Tool By: Jul 2, 2018 Share Facebook LinkedIn The OpenQuake development team rolls out the latest version of the Building Classification Tool. The tool is part of GEM's Building Typology survey initiative which hopes to classify and map the built environment all over the world with your help. The bottom up information can then be further used to analyze vulnerability and exposure of cities and communties to seismic events. To use the tool, please proceed to the OpenQuake platform to register. To get a glimpse of the tool, watch this tutorial. No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS

Publications New Statistical Perspectives on Bath's Law and Aftershock Productivity Share Facebook LinkedIn Download 2022 | Peer-reviewed The well-established Bath’s law states that the average magnitude difference between a mainshock and its strongest aftershock is roughly 1.2, independently of the size of the mainshock. The main challenge in calculating this value is the bias introduced by missing data points when the strongest aftershock is below the observed cut off magnitude. Ignoring missing values leads to a systematic error, because the data points removed are those with particularly large magnitude differences ∆M. The error is minimized, if we restrict the statistics to mainshocks at least two magnitude units above the cut-off, but then the sample size is strongly reduced. This work provides an innovative approach for modelling ∆M by adapting methods for time-to-event data, which often suffers from incomplete observation (censoring). In doing so, we adequately account for unobserved values and estimate a fully parametric distribution of the magnitude differences ∆M for M ą 6 mainshocks. Results show that magnitude differences are best modeled by the Gompertz distribution, and that larger ∆M are expected at increasing depths and higher heat flows. A simulation experiment suggests that ∆M is mainly driven by the number and the magnitude distribution of aftershocks. Therefore, in a second study, we modelled the variation of aftershock productivity in a stochastically declustered local catalog for New Zealand, using a generalized additive model approach. Results confirm that aftershock counts can be better modelled by a Negative Binomial than a Poisson distribution. Interestingly, there is indication that triggered earthquakes trigger themselves two to three times more aftershocks than comparable

Publications Significant Seismic Risk Potential From Buried Faults Beneath Almaty City, Kazakhstan, Revealed From High-Resolution Satellite DEMs Share Facebook LinkedIn Download 2021 | Peer-reviewed Major faults of the Tien Shan, Central Asia, have long repeat times, but fail in large (MwE 7+) earthquakes. In addition, there may be smaller, buried faults off the major faults which are not properly characterized or even recognized as active. These all pose hazard to cities along the mountain range front such as Almaty, Kazakhstan. Here, we explore the seismic hazard and risk for Almaty from specific earthquake scenarios. We run three historical-based earthquake scenarios (1887 Verny MwE 7.3, 1889 Chilik MwE 8.0 and 1911 Chon-Kemin MwE 8.0) on the current population and four hypothetical scenarios for near-field faulting. By making high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from SPOT and Pleiades stereo optical satellite imagery, we identify fault splays near and under Almaty. We assess the feasibility of using DEMs to estimate city building heights, aiming to better constrain future exposure datasets. Both Pleiades and SPOT-derived DEMs find accurate building heights of the majority of sampled buildings within error; Pleiades tri-stereo estimates 80% of 15 building heights within one sigma and has the smallest average percentage difference to field-measured heights (14%). A moderately sized MwE 6.5 earthquake rupture occurring on a blind thrust fault, under folding north of Almaty is the most damaging scenario explored here due to the modeled fault stretching under Almaty, with estimated 12,300E5,000 completely damaged buildings, 4,100 E 3,500 fatalities and an economic cost of 4,700 E 2,700 Million US dollars (one sigma uncertainty). This highlights the importance of characterizing location, extent, geometry, and activity of small faults beneath cities.

News GEM Launches New Public Sponsorship Scheme to Strengthen Public Engagement By: Apr 5, 2025 Mar 12, 2025 Share Facebook LinkedIn In December 2024, the GEM Governing Board approved a new public sponsorship scheme aimed at increasing public sector involvement in the foundation’s governance. This refreshed approach broadens the range of public institutions that can join GEM’s Governing Board as Public Governors, reflecting GEM's commitment to balanced public and private representation within its Board. "The new scheme is a significant step forward in our ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration with public institutions globally," said Helen Crowley, GEM Secretary General. "We want to encourage more public sector partners to join us in advancing earthquake risk reduction efforts worldwide." To support this goal, the new scheme is structured to accommodate different levels of involvement through three sponsorship tiers, all of which provide full involvement in strategic initiatives and project support, but are designed to suit different levels of engagement and resources. Two of these tiers involve financial contributions, while the third offers a pathway through the new Partnership Opportunity Application. Open to all public institutions, this tier follows a competitive selection process based on the merits of the institution's strategic alignment with GEM’s mission and contributions to earthquake risk reduction efforts, with the objective of engaging with more countries, especially those in the Global South. To ensure that public institutions are well-informed about the new scheme and the application process, GEM launched a campaign to reach a broader audience. GEM’s Get Involved page was updated to outline the scheme and explain how public institutions can apply for the Public Governor role under the new pathway. Following this, GEM scheduled a webinar on April 10th, 2025 to further discuss these changes and officially launch the call for applications to the merit-based tier. Through this initiative, GEM aims to enhance its outreach to public sector partners while reinforcing its commitment to balanced governance. Public institutions interested in applying are encouraged to visit GEM’s Get Involved page and participate in the upcoming webinar for further guidance. To gain a deeper understanding of the initiative and its potential impact, Helen shares the vision behind the new sponsorship scheme, its financial sustainability, and the benefits for public institutions looking to get involved in this Q&A. No images found. GALLERY 1/3 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS

News Regional Dialogue on Seismic Risk in Istanbul By: Oct 6, 2025 Sep 23, 2025 Share Facebook LinkedIn The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation joined government officials, academics, and international organisations at the Joint Regional Workshop on Enhancing Seismic Risk Assessment Capacities in ECO Member States, held on 22-23 September 2025 in Istanbul. The workshop was convened by the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Secretariat in collaboration with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority of Türkiye (AFAD) and the Asian and Pacific Center for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), one of the GEM Foundation’s associate partners. It formed part of the implementation of the ECO Regional Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (ECORFDRR). The two-day event gathered participants from 22 countries, along with representatives from UNDRR, the Asian Development Bank, and other partners. Discussions focused on enhancing technical capacity in seismic risk assessment, integrating socioeconomic vulnerability into models, and strengthening cooperation on data sharing and risk information systems. GEM’s Role Representing GEM, Seismic Risk Modelling Lead Anirudh Rao presented during Session 2 on Seismic Risk Assessment Methodologies. The session provided an overview of the components of innovative seismic risk assessments, focusing on probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), the development and application of vulnerability and fragility functions, the collection and analysis of exposure data, and the integration of socioeconomic dimensions of risk. By sharing GEM’s global experience, he demonstrated how harmonised approaches and open-source tools such as the OpenQuake Engine can be adapted to support national and regional initiatives. Outcomes and Next Steps The workshop highlighted key challenges faced by ECO Member States, including the lack of standardised data, limited financial resources, and the need for regional collaboration. Recommendations included greater interoperability of risk data platforms, investment in capacity building, and stronger integration of social vulnerability and economic impacts into seismic risk models. For GEM, participation reinforced its commitment to open science and international cooperation. By engaging with regional partners, the Foundation continues to support efforts that bring together scientific advances and policy action in disaster risk reduction. For more details, visit the ECO Secretariat event summary. https://eco.int/eco-afad-and-apdim-organize-joint-regional-workshop-on-enhancing-seismic-risk-assessment-capacities-in-eco-member-states/ No images found. GALLERY 1/0 VIDEO RELATED CONTENTS

Publications Global EarthquakE ScEnarios (GEESE): An OpenQuake Engine-Based Rupture Matching Algorithm and Scenarios Database for Seismic Source Model Testing and Rapid Post-Event Response Analysis Share Facebook LinkedIn Download 2025 | Peer-reviewed The Global EarthquakE ScEnarios (GEESE) algorithm retrieves from a seismic hazard input model the ruptures matching a set of criteria (e.g., magnitude, location, focal mechanism). We applied the GEESE algorithm to create a publicly available database (version 1.0) of finite rupture models for past earthquakes which can be used for scenario seismic hazard and risk analysis applications. To this end, we selected earthquakes with a moment magnitude larger than 7.0 and hypocentral depth less than 200 km in the ISC-GEM catalogue (version 10.0) and retrieved the best matching ruptures from the seismic hazard models in the GEM Mosaic. The GEESE algorithm also automatically computes a set of ground-motion fields using each matched rupture, which are also provided in the database. The ability of the GEESE algorithm to test whether a Mosaic model can generate a rupture sufficiently representative of a queried event is a useful means of evaluating the Mosaic model's seismic source characterisation (SSC). Sufficiently matching ruptures are retrieved from the Global Mosaic for 90 percent of the tested ISC-GEM events. The GEESE algorithm can also be used in post-event response analysis to rapidly obtain an initial finite rupture when only minimal event information is initially available. A demonstration of these capabilities of the GEESE algorithm is provided using the 2023 Morocco earthquake, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquake.