News of the Institute
Member Database Transition Begins Next Week
EERI’s transition to our new member database will begin next week, on Thursday, September 12th! For a period of about four weeks, until the public launch of the new system in early October, member access to the database will be read-only, and you will not be able to edit the information on your member profile, with the exception of resetting your password. You will still have access to Earthquake Spectra and other member-only content via the EERI website when logged in. Please check the EERI website for updates on the transition during this period, and contact us at eeri@eeri.org if you experience any issues.
Annual Meeting Reenvisioning Working Group: Volunteers Needed!
The EERI Board of Directors is launching a new EERI Annual Meeting Reenvisioning Working Group to transform the format of our current Annual Meeting. The group will analyze our recent meetings, consider alternate formats, and then recommend a new meeting format that will better reflect the needs of our diverse membership and achieve a financially sustainable outcome. Members seeking to engage in this process are invited to express their interest in joining the Working Group!
To ensure a diverse set of perspectives in the process, we are looking for participants from a wide range of disciplines that have various levels of engagement in past EERI Annual Meetings–from those who have attended many meetings to none at all. Working group activities are expected to last for ~6-9 months starting in October/November 2024, with a time commitment of 2-4 hours per month including a monthly call, and some pre-and post-meeting work to review materials or conduct some research/outreach to inform the process. Most important is your interest in helping EERI transform our meetings and your willingness to think both creatively and strategically about how meetings can best serve members. Interested members should complete this interest form by September 30.
Join the 13NCEE Organizing and Program Committees!
Being on an event Organizing Committee is an exciting, unique opportunity to connect, learn, and lead all at the same time.
Held once every four years, the Thirteenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (13NCEE) is a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to share the latest knowledge and techniques to understand and mitigate the damaging effects of earthquakes and tsunamis. You can be a part of leading the program design, developing fun special events, coordinating a rich exhibit filled with incredible sponsors, and much more!
To express your interest in joining:
- Read about all the positions available and the anticipated time commitment.
- Fill out your interest form.
Please submit your interest by Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Selected volunteers will be contacted on a rolling basis beginning fall 2024.
Thank you in advance for helping us design a 13NCEE experience and comprehensive program that will facilitate synergy between earthquake scientists, engineers, and policy professionals from the United States and around the world. We can’t wait to see everyone in Portland, Oregon in July 2026!
EERI Networking Reception in Oakland: September 18
Join the EERI Board of Directors and Staff as we say farewell to our downtown Oakland Office and finish our transition to a virtual staff team. All members are invited to join us for a casual networking reception on Wednesday September 18 from 4:00 - 7:00pm at the current EERI office space, located at 499 14th Street, Suite 220, Oakland, CA 94612. Light food and drinks will be provided.
Members will have an opportunity to take some EERI print publications and other memorabilia with them. Come to share some memories and bring your ideas for the future! The Board of Directors welcomes your attendance. Please RSVP via this registration form if you would like to attend the reception.
2025 EERI Board of Directors Election Candidates
EERI is pleased to announce the candidates for Director for the 2025 Board of Directors Election. You can view the candidates' bios and vision statements here.
All eligible EERI voting members will receive an email with a link to access their secure online ballot to cast their vote starting October 1, 2024. The election will close on November 1, 2024 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
Director A:
Craig Davis (M. EERI, 1995)
Manager, C A Davis Engineering
Santa Clarita, California
Shahram Pezeshk (M. EERI, 1989)
Chair and Professor of Civil Engineering, The University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Director B:
Ezra Jampole (M. EERI, 2012)
Principal, Exponent
New York, New York
Lindsey Maclise (M. EERI, 2011)
Principal, Forell | Elsesser Engineers
San Francisco, California
Additional nominations may be made by the membership in accordance with Article VII of the EERI Bylaws (Section 5), upon submission of a petition with signatures. See the Bylaws for full details. Petitions must be received by September 15, 2024 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. They should be sent to eeri@eeri.org.
EERI thanks the 2024 Nominating Committee for their work this year: Erica Fischer (Chair), Nick Gregor, Laurie Johnson, John Hooper, Sarah Wichman, Janiele Maffei (ex-officio), and Heidi Tremayne (ex-officio).
Back to top >Webinars
EERI Oral History Webinar: Izzat (Ed) Idriss Interviewed By Ross Boulanger
Friday, October 18, 2024
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
REGISTER HERE
Join us for a free webinar highlighting the most recent publication from EERI's Connections Oral History series! The webinar will feature Dr. Izzat (Ed) Idriss, a pioneer in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering. He will share recollections from his long career as an academic and engineering practitioner, which included major contributions to understanding soil sites and structures behavior and participation in in post-earthquake reconnaissance and investigation of several major earthquakes over the last 50 years. Dr. Idriss will be joined by Dr. Ross W. Boulanger, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis, and a longtime colleague and friend, who conducted the interviews for the oral history.
M7.4 Taiwan Earthquake of April 2024 Webinar Series
Thursday, September 5, 2024 (first session)
4:00 - 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Thursday, September 19, 2024 (second session)
4:30 - 5:30 PM Pacific Time
Join EERI this month for a series of two webinars examining the M7.4 earthquake that struck Taiwan earlier this year. Registering once for this series at the above link will allow you to attend both webinars.
The earthquake occurred on April 3 at 7:58 am local time offshore about 11 miles southwest of Hualien City, one of the largest population centers on the east coast (pop. 99,500). The rupture occurred on a northeast–southwest-striking, moderately dipping, reverse fault within the Eurasian Plate. The focal mechanism was reverse-faulting at a 15 km (9 mi) depth. It is the strongest earthquake in Taiwan since the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake (M7.7). At least 20 people were killed and 1,100 injured, predominantly due to landslides rather than structural collapses. About 110 buildings were destroyed, including some 1,900 houses, and 870 buildings and 75 roads were damaged. While structural damage was reported across Taiwan's eastern and northern regions, it is remarkable that full structural collapses were rare. The earthquake also caused widespread power and water outages, and railway service was partially suspended across Taiwan. Around 800 landslides occurred, and a tsunami with maximum wave heights of 100 cm (40 in) was generated.
The first webinar, on Thursday September 5, is a Quick Quake Briefing hosted by EERI's Northern California chapter. Two speakers from the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taipei will join us. Dr. Yu-Chen Ou, Director of NCREE, will present on damage to buildings and other infrastructure, and Dr. Che-Min Lin, Research Fellow of NCREE, will present on the seismology and recorded strong ground motions.
The second webinar, on Thursday September 19, will focus on functional recovery. Dr. Wei-sen Li of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction will speak about the role of disaster risk reduction and emergency response in making Taiwan prepared for this earthquake, and Maria Mohammed, S.E. of Structural Focus will report on the findings of the EERI Housner Fellows group that traveled to Taiwan in May to conduct reconnaissance and test a new functional recovery data collection tool.
Back to top >Students
SLC 2024 Retreat
The EERI Student Leadership Council (SLC) held its annual retreat in Oakland, California, from August 14 to 16, 2024, during which they elected new officers and initiated preparations for the 2025 Seismic Design Competition (SDC). The meetings were chaired by outgoing co-presidents Aditya Jhunjhunwala from UC Davis and Alanna Joachim from Stanford University, at Oakland City Center Conference Center. A total of 19 student members attended the retreat, engaging with EERI staff, reflecting on the SLC’s accomplishments over the past year, and strategizing for the upcoming year.
The SLC extends its heartfelt appreciation to Computers and Structures, Inc., (CSI) an EERI Visionary Subscribing Member, for its generous support of the annual SLC retreat and year-round activities. CSI, under the leadership of President and CEO Ashraf Habibullah, hosted a remarkable reception for the SLC members in Walnut Creek, which was a delightful and enriching experience for the SLC members.
The SLC elected the following officers for the 2024-2025 academic year:
- Co-Presidents: Gustavo Araújo, Stanford University, and Casey Rodgers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Secretary: Kate Rhoades, University of Colorado Boulder.
- Treasurer: Amy Metz, Oregon State University.
- SDC Chairs: Tanner Field, Oregon State University (Lead); Amy Wells, The University of British Columbia; Axel Yarahuaman, UC San Diego; Claudia Deveaux, University of Miami; Julio Samayoa, North Carolina State University; Lih Shen Koo, Stanford University; Matthew Tu, UC San Diego; Melanie Dickson, North Carolina State University; Mohamed Eltahlawi, Texas A&M University; Mohammed Ibrahim, McGill University; Nick Thielsen, University of Vermont; Stefan Popescu, University of Southern California.
- Shake Table Operator: Jose Luis Caisapanta, UC Davis.
- Outreach Chairs: Fadzai Zivanai, Portland State University, and Marina Yamaguchi, UC Berkeley.
- Webmasters: Amy Wells, The University of British Columbia, and Matthew Tu, UC San Diego.
Regional Chapters
2024 Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering and EERI Distinguished Lecture
EERI’s San Diego Regional Chapter will host the 6th annual Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering at the University of California, San Diego on September 12-13, 2024.
The full-day colloquium will take place on Thursday, September 12, with two sessions: “Punctuated Resilience, Climate Change, and Bio-Geotechnics,” (featuring speakers Christopher Wills, Thomas O’Rourke, J. Carlos Santamarina, and Alejandro Martinez) and “Next-Generation Liquefaction Modeling of Liquefaction Triggering and Surface Manifestation (featuring speakers Steve Kramer, Jonathan Stewart, Scott Brandenberg, Ken Hudson, and Kristin Ulmer). View the colloquium schedule here and speaker abstracts here.
On Friday, September 13, the series will continue with a three-quarter-day short course on “USGS Software Tools for Site-Specific Ground Motion Hazard Analysis” from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM. The course will provide an update of the 2023 USGS National Seismic Hazard Map and USGS ToolBox for ground motions, led by Nicolas Luco and Peter Powers from USGS and Jorge F. Meneses from Worley Consulting and the San Diego Chapter). View more information about the Friday course here.
Participants may register separately for the Thursday colloquium and the Friday short course. Register here.
In a special dinner event at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens on Wednesday, September 11, the night before the Ishihara Colloquium, the chapter will also host Dr. Michael Olson, Professor of Geomatics at Oregon State University, to present his 2024 EERI Distinguished Lecture, “Geospatial Technology—Saving the World's Past, Present, and Future from Natural Hazards.” Ticket prices include a buffet meal. Register for the dinner lecture event here.
Back to top >Announcements
Online Workshop on Fault Displacement Hazard
The University of California and its partners are holding an online workshop series to present new Fault Displacement Models developed through the Fault Displacement Hazard Initiative (FDHI) Project. The workshops will be held on December 2, 4, and 6 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (PDT). Separate topics will be discussed each day. Please register (free of charge) by November 29, 2024 at the website here. If you have any questions, please contact UCLA at: sarmiento.alexandrac+wkshp@gmail.com
Kinemetrics Webinar: The Evolution of Earthquake Resilience & Rapid Reoccupancy Programs
Kinemetrics is hosting a free webinar on September 25, 2024 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time on “The Evolution of Earthquake Resilience & Rapid Reoccupancy Programs.” Register here to attend the webinar.
The understanding of the impact of earthquakes on people and structures has grown dramatically in recent years. Programs, studies, and advancing instrumentation have led to solutions that deliver increased situational awareness, informed decision-making, and improved public safety. Of particular concern are critical services that must remain operating during emergency events such as earthquakes. The efforts to improve access to these services during earthquakes have led to a focus on creating resilience in communities and the built world.
In this informative webinar and Q&A session, Dr. Derek Skolnik and Brandon Parrott will discuss the history of rapid reoccupancy programs, and how they are supported by state-of-the-art earthquake response systems. This presentation will focus on resilience elements such as earthquake early warning, building monitoring, and the current state of rapid reoccupancy programs. Case studies based upon a series of very recent earthquakes in California will be used to demonstrate how solutions like OasisPlus from Kinemetrics promote each critical element in the chain of resilience.
Back to top >Subscribing Member Spotlight
Verisk
Verisk provides risk modeling solutions that make individuals, businesses, and society more resilient to extreme events with nine offices around the globe. More than 400 organizations rely on Verisk’s models, software, and services to manage their risk from natural catastrophes, terrorism, cyber attacks, to pandemics.
COSMOS
Established in 1997, the Consortium of Organizations for Strong Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS) promotes collaboration among programs and institutions to improve strong-motion measurements, to solve mutual problems with instrumentation and data, and to assist in strong-motion data dissemination.
News of the Profession
Links to Recent News and Views
- Men’s Central Jail faces ‘severe structural damage’ in earthquake, report says (Los Angeles Times, quoting EERI member Ryan Wilkerson)
- Preventing the next ‘Fukushima’ (High Country News, quoting EERI member Yumei Wang)
- Indonesia's Earthquake Preparedness Needs Urgent Improvement Amid Megathrust Threat (Jakarta Globe, quoting Housner Fellow Nuraini Rahma Hanifa)
- Earthquake risks and rising costs: The price of operating California’s last nuclear plant (Los Angeles Times)
- New early earthquake warning system activated in B.C. (CBC)
- Neglected Morocco earthquake survivors struggle with slow rebuild (The New Humanitarian)