Join EERI for a series of free public webinars featuring Dr. Craig Davis and building on the themes of his 2021 EERI Distinguished Lecture! Additional webinars in the series will be hosted by EERI Regional Chapters this fall.
Operationalizing Lifeline Infrastructure System Resilience to Earthquakes
September 1, 2021, 1:00-2:00 PM PT
To launch this fall’s Distinguished Lecture Webinar Series, EERI is rebroadcasting Dr. Craig Davis’s Distinguished Lecture from the 2021 Annual Meeting. The lecture explores how lifeline infrastructure system resilience is intimately linked to and supports community resilience through the services they provide. Lifelines are interdependent socio-technical systems vital in the day-to-day operations of our communities, and their basic services essential for community recovery after earthquakes. They include water, wastewater, stormwater control, electric power, gas and liquid fuel, telecommunication, solid waste, and multi-modal transportation systems. This lecture identifies features making lifeline systems resilient and provides examples on putting resilience into practice.
Seismic Resilient Lifeline Networks
September 8, 2021, 1:00-2:30 PM PT
This live webinar, hosted by EERI's Southern California chapter, will focus on the concepts of resilience and functional recovery as they apply to critical lifelines. True resilience against the earthquake threat must incorporate all functioning systems of the community. We must not only design buildings to withstand a large event, but also design the complex systems that support those buildings with resilience in mind. Experts in infrastructure for water, power, natural gas, and sanitation will detail recent gains and future strategies made by those utilities in enhancing the resilience of their lifeline systems. The webinar will begin with a brief presentation by Craig Davis, who will then be joined by John Shamma of the Metropolitan Water District, Jennifer Pearce of Southern California Edison, Mehrshad Ketabdar of SoCal Gas, and Donald Cutler of Orange County Sanitation, who will present and discuss the concepts of functional recovery and resilience within their respective lifeline systems, followed by an open floor for audience questions and discussion.
About Dr. Craig Davis
In his three-decade-long career at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Dr. Davis worked as the Departmental Chief Resilience Officer, Seismic Manager, and Geotechnical Engineering Manager, and developed a comprehensive L.A. Water System resilience program. He has served on professional committees, including the Building Seismic Safety Council, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction, and ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division. Dr. Davis has published more than 150 technical papers and investigated numerous earthquakes.
Davis has been honored with the ASCE 2016 Le Val Lund Award for Practicing Lifeline Risk Reduction, the 2020 Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award, and the EERI Distinguished Lecture Award. The annual Distinguished Lecture Award is awarded to EERI members to recognize and encourage communication of outstanding professional contributions of major importance for earthquake hazard mitigation.
The EERI Northern California Regional Chapter and the EERI Learning from Earthquakes Program held a FREE webinar on the M8.2 earthquake that struck on July 28, 2021 (local date) offshore Alaska. The very strong quake was one of the largest to strike Alaska in recent history. It was located about 70 miles east southeast of Perryville, Alaska (about 500 miles southwest of Anchorage). The quake was a result of thrust faulting at a depth of 22 miles on the subduction zone between the Pacific plate and North American plate where the Pacific plate begins diving under Alaska. Fortunately, Alaska was mostly unscathed, thanks to the remote location and depth of the epicenter. Tsunami alerts were issued shortly after the earthquake and several coastal communities were evacuated. Only small tsunami waves measuring under a foot above tide level were observed initially, and tsunami alerts were called off under two hours after the quake. Final maximum wave amplitudes observed were between 1 and 2 feet above the tide, and the tsunami was detected down the U.S. West Coast as well as in Hawaii.
