Pulse

News of the Institute

13NCEE Call for Special Session Proposals

EERI is now inviting Special Session Proposals for the 13th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (13NCEE) in Portland in July 2026! Learn more about the conference at the 13NCEE website here.

The conference will include a small number of special sessions. Attractive special session proposals cross disciplinary and general topic boundaries and raise challenging technical-social issues. Special sessions can be mini-workshops, short presentations followed by panel discussions, debates, or other unique and engaging formats. They should not be merely a collection of presentations in a general topic area. This type of session, titled a Technical Topic Session, will be built by the Program Committee after reviewing the submitted papers.

The program committee is particularly interested in special session proposals that touch on the following themes:

Intersection of Earthquake Engineering and Multi-Hazard Resilience
Response and Recovery from Simultaneous Disasters
Local and Regional Earthquake Hazard
Indigenous Knowledge and Earthquake Resilience
Seismic Resilience of Coastal Communities Facing Rising Sea Levels
Interdisciplinary Hazards/Resilience Education

The deadline for submitting special session proposals is May 19, 2025.

View the full Call for Special Session Proposals here and submit your proposal soon!

Individual paper submission will open in summer 2025; view the call for papers and the list of technical topics for more information. We’re excited to see you in Portland in next summer!

Next Generation Liquefaction Workshop

Date & Time: May 16, 2025, 1:00 - 5:00 PM

Location: 601 12th St, Oakland, CA

REGISTER HERE

Description:

In this in-person, half-day seminar, members of one of the Next Generation Liquefaction (NGL) model development teams, known as the SMT, will highlight the main outcomes of a project jointly supported by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to use the extensive NGL project’s case history database to develop a suite of models for the probabilities of liquefaction susceptibility, triggering, and ground surface manifestation. View the news post here for a full list of presentation topics and speakers.

Registration Rates:

EERI Regular, Retired, and Lifetime Members and Subscribing Member Representatives: $75 (increases to $100 on April 16, 2025)
EERI Student, Young Professional, Affiliate Members: $25 (increases to $50 on April 16, 2025)
Non-Members: $150 (increases to $175 on April 16, 2025)

Attendance is limited to 100 participants. Register now to guarantee your spot! Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Maggie Ortiz-Millan at maggie@eeri.org.

2025 EERI Business Meeting Recording and Slides

EERI's 2025 Business Meeting was held via Zoom webinar on Thursday, March 20 at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. Outgoing EERI President Janiele Maffei, President-Elect Ellen Rathje, and Secretary/Treasurer Keith Knudsen presented on EERI's activities and achievements in 2024 and discussed plans for the coming year. View a recording of the business meeting here and download a PDF copy of the slide presentation here.

December 2024 Board Meeting Highlights

The EERI Board of Directors met virtually via web conference on Thursday, December 12, 2024. President Janiele Maffei chaired the meeting.

The board reviewed and approved the 2025 EERI Election Results, approved the formation of a new student chapter (McGill University), and welcomed a new EERI Subscribing Member (GeoVera Nova). The Board also reviewed the Ad Hoc Selection Committee’s candidates for the appointed board position. As this was the final meeting for outgoing Board members Terri Norton, Carlien Bou-Chedid, and Ayse Hortacsu, the Board thanked them for their contributions and heard their farewell statements.

The Board approved the selections made by the Earthquake Spectra Editorial Board and the Student Awards Committee for the recipients of the 2024 Spectra Outstanding Paper Award and Graduate Student Paper Prize, respectively. The Board also confirmed the nomination of a new Joyner Lecture Committee Chair and approved updates to the eligibility criteria for the Shah Prize and Younger Member Award that will be shared with the membership in the next awards cycle.

The Board reviewed and discussed a report from the Finance Committee, a membership renewal and recruitment update by EERI staff, and the Executive Director’s report. The Board also reviewed and approved previous meeting minutes, quarterly financial and investment statements, and EERI’s 2025 Budget.

The Board discussed the closeout plans for the strategic goals in the 2021-2025 strategic plan and starting points for the 2026-2030 strategic planning process, and heard an update from the Annual Meeting Reenvisioning Working Group.

The board approved the nomination of a new co-chair for the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and discussed the committee’s 2025 priorities with the Chairs, including California Legislative Subcommittee goals for the 2025-2026 Assembly session and ongoing advocacy for NEHRP reauthorization.

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Learning From Earthquakes

LFE Response to M7.7 Myanmar (Burma) Earthquake

EERI’s Learning From Earthquakes (LFE) program is currently monitoring the impacts of the destructive M7.7 earthquake that struck near Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma) at 12:50 PM local time (06:20 UTC) on March 28, 2025. A M6.4 aftershock occurred about 12 minutes later. The earthquake caused widespread shaking felt throughout much of Myanmar and Thailand and in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China. At least 2,700 people were killed and many more injured. Significant building damage, including multiple structure collapses, occurred in a number of cities including Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Bangkok. There are also reports of widespread damage to infrastructure, including bridges, roads, airports, and hospitals. The EERI community extends its sympathy to the victims as rescue and relief work continues.

EERI is evaluating the situation and consulting with local colleagues and experts to determine how LFE should respond.

If you have information to share, are part of an organization that is planning to conduct earthquake reconnaissance, or wish to be updated on opportunities to participate in LFE activities responding to this earthquake, please share information via the Google form here.

View more information in the news post here. Resources and other information will be added to the event page on the LFE website here as they become available.

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Public Policy and Advocacy

EERI Community Impacts of Federal Funding Changes

We would like to better understand how EERI members have been impacted by federal funding uncertainty and recent executive orders. Your response will inform our plan to advocate for our professional community and the work we do.

Please fill out this short form by April 18, 2025 to help illuminate how the situation is affecting you and your organization or community.

EERI Opposes California AB 306

On March 24, 2025, EERI joined a coalition opposing California Assembly Bill 306. AB306 would prevent the adoption or modification of new California state and local building standards affecting “residential units” from June 1, 2025 until June 1, 2031, with limited exceptions. This approach is against what EERI recommends in our existing EERI policy statement Promoting the Adoption and Enforcement of Effective Building Codes with Earthquake Provisions in the United States. EERI is concerned that the bill is moving quickly through the House, passing quickly out of two committees.

While the bill's goal is to accelerate housing construction, EERI is concerned that freezing the building code as it pertains to residential units for six years will hamper the state from benefiting from incremental building codes improvements during this time period. The bill's language is vague and introduces questions into what types of residential units would be impacted by this freeze. There is also uncertainty about whether the bill would preclude new local retrofit ordinances or if changes in seismic provisions would be considered eligible health and safety exceptions.

Members can view the opposition letter here (PDF), and join future monthly meetings of California Legislative Subcommittee of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee to continue tracking this bill and join in our opposition advocacy. The next meeting is on Wednesday April 16. Express your interest by joining the mailing list or emailing policy@eeri.org

Stewart and Arendt Op-Ed on Federal Expertise

Jonathan Stewart (M.EERI 1994) and Lucy Arendt (M.EERI 2008) published an op-ed this week in The Conversation titled “US earthquake safety relies on federal employees’ expertise.” In the piece, they note that earthquake preparedness “hinges in large part on the expertise of scientists and engineers in federal agencies who develop earthquake hazard models and contribute to the creation of building codes designed to ensure homes, high-rises and other structures won’t collapse when the ground shakes.”

View the op-ed at The Conversation here.

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Member Spotlight

EERI’s First Lifetime Member: Kishor Jaiswal

Kishor Jaiswal USGS When EERI introduced our new Lifetime Membership option in fall 2024, Kishor Jaiswal (M.EERI 2007) was the first to seize the opportunity to sign up! A research civil (structural) engineer at U.S. Geological Survey, Kishor leads the development of Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system’s earthquake casualty and economic loss estimation models. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 2024 Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award, the 2012 Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Outstanding Contribution Award, and the Earthquake Spectra 2010 Oustanding Paper Award.

Kishor has long been a dedicated member of EERI. A Housner Fellow, he was a participant in LFE post-earthquake reconnaissance missions to New Zealand and Nepal, and has served on World Housing Encyclopedia Executive Committee, supporting WHE-PAGER initiatives. He is currently an Associate Editor of Earthquake Spectra.

Kishor says, “If you are a mid-career professional and are passionate about earthquakes and risk reduction in general, this is a far better investment than Bitcoin and NVIDIA combined! EERI has made a profound impact in the field of earthquake engineering both domestically and internationally since its inception.” Learn more about EERI Lifetime Membership here.

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Regional Chapters

NorCal Spring Happy Hour

EERI’s Northern California Regional Chapter is hosting a spring casual mixer on Wednesday, April 17 from 5:00-7:00 PM at the SPUR Urban Center (654 Mission Street) in downtown San Francisco. The happy hour will also be an exclusive chance for EERI members to explore SPUR's new exhibition: “Watermarks: Postcards from the Future,” co-curated by EERI NorCal Board member, Sarah Atkinson (M.EERI 2022). RSVP here to attend the event.

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Announcements

Blume Center 50th Anniversary Celebration

2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford University! On Friday, May 9, 2025, the Blume Center will hold a day-long symposium at Stanford University to commemorate five decades of innovation, research, and impact in earthquake engineering. Friends and colleagues are welcome to join Stanford faculty, students, and alumni in celebrating this milestone to reflect on past achievements and the future of earthquake engineering.

Further information and registration details are available on the Blume Center website here. Please register by April 10, 2025.

Request for Participation in NGA-West3

The NGA-West3 Program is requesting participation to develop ground motion models for “secondary” parameters. Applications will be accepted through May 5, 2025. The application form can be found here.

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Opportunities

GEM Foundation Public Sector Partnership Opportunity

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation is offering a unique opportunity for public organizations to join GEM’s Governing Board as Public Governors. While GEM’s Public Governors typically contribute annual sponsorship fees, selected public sector partners under this opportunity will instead be granted Public Governor status (for a period of 3 years) based purely on merit, strategic alignment, and contributions to seismic risk reduction. Through this partnership, Public Governors will gain access to GEM’s global network, research, and tools, contributing to and benefiting from the advancement of earthquake risk knowledge. Applications are due May 24, 2025.

To learn more, view the announcement on the GEM website here, read this LinkedIn Q&A from GEM Secretary General Helen Crowley (M.EERI 2008) or register here to attend an informational webinar on April 10, 2025 from 13:00 - 14:00 CEST.

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Oral History

Interviews by Stanley Scott #2: James L. Stratta

Don’t miss the next publication in EERI’s new oral history series! Interviews by Stanley Scott: An EERI Oral History Collection preserves and shares the valuable unfinished work of Stanley Scott (1921-2002), who conducted tape-recorded interviews with pioneers in the field of earthquake engineering in the 1980s and 1990s that formed the basis for 17 volumes in the Connections series of oral histories. This new series makes available interviews that Scott was unable to finalize and publish during his lifetime.

Jim Stratta James (Jim) L. Stratta was a California-based structural engineer and an expert on earthquake resistant structural design and forensic engineering. Born in Berkeley and raised in San Francisco, he earned his B.S. Civil Engineering at University of California, Berkeley. During World War II he worked for the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory at Moffett Field. With Albert Simpson, he founded Simpson, Stratta and Associates in 1952. The firm designed large-scale office parks, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities, including the original Intel building and a new headquarters for the National Semiconductor Company in Santa Clara, and was responsible for the design of a master plan for the City of Folsom in 1964.

Stratta was also an adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley School of Architecture in the 1950s, and served as president of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California. He participated in EERI’s post-earthquake reconnaissance programs, including site visits to the Philippines in 1968 and 1976, Italy 1976 and 1980, Livermore 1980, and Coalinga 1984.

Scott interviewed Stratta several times in 1991, but the planned oral history volume was not completed due to Stratta’s illness and death in 1994. From 2001 to 2003, Robert Preece, a friend and former employee of Simpson & Stratta, worked with Scott to edit the interview transcripts into manuscript form. This draft was subsequently edited and arranged for publication in this series by Thalia Anagnos (M.EERI 1982) and Charles Scawthorn (M.EERI 1991). The volume covers Stratta’s early life and education, his experiences during World War II, his long career as an practicing structural engineer and forensic engineering expert, and his involvement with EERI and other engineering organizations, including the Structural Engineers Association and the Applied Technology Council.

Download the PDF of James L. Stratta from the EERI Digital Library here.

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Subscribing Member Spotlight

Walter P Moore

WalterPMoore Walter P Moore is a global, integrated team of expert creatives who are engineering extraordinary environments to forge the future of the built universe. For more than 90 years, clients worldwide have entrusted their high-profile, mission-critical, industry-changing projects to Walter P Moore. The firm has delivered projects covering more than 2 billion square feet, earning more than 1,500 awards for engineering excellence along the way.

Keller

K LOG M COL RGB As the world-leading geotechnical specialty contractor, Keller develops innovative, practical, and cost-effective solutions to geotechnical challenges across the entire construction industry, building the foundations for a sustainable future. With 9,500 employees and operations across five continents, Keller tackles some of the largest and most demanding projects around the world.