Table of Contents

News of the Profession

Member Spotlight

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

Founded in 1948, EERI's mission is to reduce earthquake risk by (1) advancing the science and practice of earthquake engineering, (2) improving understanding of the impact of earthquakes on the physical, social, economic, political, and cultural environment, and (3) advocating comprehensive and realistic measures for reducing the harmful effects of earthquakes.

News of the Profession

Links to Recent News and Views

Ten recent stories, reports, or opinions from around the Web:

oneThe Quiet Before The Quake (The New Yorker) A new model to explain silent stretches of the San Andreas fault. newyorker.com external link icon

oneInsurers settle 88% of Nepal quake-related claims (Nepal Republic Media) 16 non-life insurance companies have settled 15,625 claims. myrepublica.com external link icon

oneAfter Nepal’s earthquake, a push to rebuild without child labor. (PBS Newshour) Using relief aid to force brick kiln operators not to rebuild on the backs of children. www.pbs.org external link icon

oneNapa School Bond Falls Short (Napa Valley Register) Voters say no to bond after August 2014 earthquake revealed local schools need rebuilding or relocating. napavalleyregister.com external link icon

fiveUniversity's new online tool helps Oregonians assess quake risks for free (KTVZ) Program provides risk information on landslides, ground shaking, and liquefaction at specific sites during a subduction zone earthquake. ktvz.com external link icon

sixRegion of earthquakes: South Sound leaders prepare for ‘big one’ (The Olympian) Four-day federal earthquake drill begins with fake 9.0 earthquake. theolympian.com external link icon

sevenSaudi Arabia building houses, schools and hospitals in Pakistan after quake and floods (Al Arabiya) Kingdom creates humanitarian mission for victims of 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods. pbs.org external link icon

eightLessons from the Kumamoto Earthquake (The Japan News) Best practices and challenges identified by local government officials. the-japan-news.com external link icon

nineInsurers hiking earthquake rates in Oklahoma (Norman Transcript) Cost of earthquake coverage increasing from 4 to 300 percent, as insurers brace for a catastrophic quake. normantranscript.com external link icon

tenEarth Scientists do "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit (Reddit.com) IRIS Consortium scientists take over the AskScience section for a day. reddit.com external link icon

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News of the Institute

Save the Dates: 2017 Annual Meeting and 2018 National Conference

2017-mtgStart making plans now for EERI's 69th Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, March 7-10, 2017. There will be an enticing program, workshops, and tours with a focus on the Pacific Northwest. Look for the meeting website in the fall with all the information, but make sure you keep the days free now.

While you have your calendar open, pencil in the dates for the 11th United States National Conference on Earthquake Engineering. In addition to the full slate of Annual Meeting activities, the National Conference will feature robust technical programs and tours. The 10th National Conference in Alaska was EERI's most successful meeting in attendance, enthusiasm, and attendee interaction in years. We look forward to an even more rewarding experience for the 11NCEE. Plan now to join us in Los Angeles, California, June 24-29, 2018.

EERI Store Summer Sale Until July 15

EQSAs a thank you to EERI members, every item in the EERI Knowledge Center and Online Store is now on sale at a 33% discount for a limited time. This members-only discount will be applied to all sale and regular-priced items at check-out. Many PDFs are downloadable at no charge.

Stock up now before some items run out. Be sure to log-in with your EERI membership credentials to get the member discount. (Having trouble logging in? Contact Juliane Lane at juliane@eeri.org) The Members Only Sale ends on Friday, July 15.

Browse the EERI Knowledge Center and Online Store by visiting the EERI website at https://www.eeri.org/store-landing-page/ external link icon

EERI South Napa Earthquake Data Map and Photo Gallery

napa-clearinghouseFollowing the 2014 South Napa Earthquake, over 100 individuals participated in reconnaissance efforts through the California Earthquake Clearinghouse. As Vice-Chair of the California Earthquake Clearinghouse, EERI managed reconnaissance data collection and sharing efforts.

With support from FEMA, EERI has archived South Napa Earthquake data and reconnaissance observations collected by engineers, scientists, and researchers into the South Napa Earthquake Data Map and Photo Gallery. The map contains 16 datasets (including data collected from the FEMA P-1024, Performance of Buildings and Nonstructural Components in the 2014 South Napa Earthquake study), more than 8,000 data points and 5,000 photos. All data published in the map can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes with attribution. The photo gallery contains over 3,000 high-resolution, geolocated reconnaissance photos with information about observations, photographer, discipline, damage level, and many other fields. Users can search and filter the database using a text search, advanced search filters, by specifying a time window, or by specifying a geographic region.

Both the data map and photo gallery will serve as a long-term archive of the reconnaissance data from the 2014 South Napa Earthquake. To access, visit the South Napa Earthquake Virtual Clearinghouse Website: http://www.eqclearinghouse.org/2014-08-24-south-napa/ external link icon

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Publications

Earthquake Spectra: Preprint Manuscripts

spectra 150Three preprint manuscripts have been posted to the Earthquake Spectra website prior to formal publication. The papers to be published are:

  • "Building Height Limits for Steel Intermediate Moment Frames" by Sang Whan Han (M. EERI, 1994), Yu Jin Park and Sung Jin Ha
  • "Assessment of the 2011 Virginia Earthquake Damage and Seismic Fragility Analysis of the Washington Monument" by S. Golnaz Shahidi (M. EERI, 2013), Shamim N. Pakzad, James M. Ricles (M. EERI, 1995), and James R. Martin (M. EERI, 1990)
  • "Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance of Unreinforced and Retrofitted Masonry Parapets" by Marta Giaretton (M. EERI, 2015), Dmytro Dizhur (M. EERI, 2014), Francesca da Porto and Jason M. Ingham (M. EERI, 2012)

To read all current preprint manuscripts posted, visit Earthquake Spectra preprints. external link icon

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Member Spotlight

Welcome New EERI Members

EERI welcomes the members who have recently joined the Institute. If you wish to connect with your fellow members, you can locate their contact information in the EERI online membership directory, which requires logging in to the Member Resources Area of the EERI website.

E-AFFILIATES
Franklin Olaya Trinidad, Golder Associates, Inc., Geotechnical
Surendra Nadh Somala, IIT Hyderabad, Seismologist
Daniel Ulloa, Panama

REGULAR
Magued Iskander, NYU - Tandon School of Engineering, Geotechnical
Mei Kuen Liu, Forell/Elsesser Engineers Inc.

STUDENT MEMBERS
Zoya Benyaminov, NYU - Tandon School of Engineering, Geotechnical
Jingling Hua, University of Washington (Tongii University)
Binod Kafle, Kiel University, Geotechnical
Lohrasb Keykhosropour, University of California, Irvine, Geotechnical

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Announcements

Abstracts Deadline this Friday for ASC 2016

ascThe 11th Asian Seismological Commission General Assembly (ASC 2016) will take place in Melbourne, Australia November 25-27, 2016. The assembly's Call for Abstracts closes this Friday, June 17, 2016.

To submit an abstract, visit http://www.ASC2016.asia external link icon and click on LOGIN at the top of the screen to create your account. Once you are logged into the Dashboard, click “Add an Abstract” to create a 250 word submission for consideration. Early bird registration is also open. For more information, visit https://www.asc2016.asia external link icon

Tomorrow: PEER webinar on Ecuador Earthquake

peer logo 75Tomorrow, June 16, 2016, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) will host a seminar of post-earthquake reconnaissance observations from the April 16, 2016 Ecuador Earthquake.

PEER researchers from the John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Research Center at Stanford University and from UC Berkeley spent one week in Ecuador conducting an earthquake reconnaissance and will summarize recorded ground motions as well as the seismic performance of buildings, bridges, dams, highways, and critical facilities such as hospitals on the two month anniversary of the event.

Date: Thursday, June 16th, 2016
Time: 12:00 to 1:30pm Pacific
Location: 250 Sutardja Dai Hall, UC Berkeley (or watch online)

Presenters will be Eduardo Miranda (M. EERI, 1987), Luis Alfredo Ceferino Rojas, and Roberto Luque.

More seminar details and instructions on how to view the webcast are available at the PEER website: http://peer.berkeley.edu/news/2016/06/peer-seminar-series-june-16-post-earthquake-reconnaissance-observations-of-the-april-16-ecuador-earthquake/ external link icon

Build Change Seeks Lead Structural Engineer for Philippines

Build Change LOGOBuild Change external link icon, a non‐profit social enterprise whose mission is to save lives in earthquakes and hurricanes, has an opening for the position of Lead Structural Engineer to work in the Philippines. The successful candidate will lead the development of new technical resources, design and construction supervision procedures for the new pre-disaster retrofit program in Metro Manila, among other duties.

Fluency in Tagalog or other Filipino language is a strong plus. Applications will be reviewed in the order in which they are received and accepted until the position is filled. Visit http://www.buildchange.org/about/careers/ external link icon to learn more and apply for this position.

Think Hazard! Launched by GFDRR at the World Bank

thinkhazardThink Hazard! (www.thinkhazard.org external link icon), a free and open-source online tool that allows users to understand how eight different kinds of hazards—earthquake, flood, landslide, wind, storm surge, drought, volcanic eruption, tsunami—might affect a specific geographic area, is now available from the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

"Ensuring that everyone can understand the potential for disaster events will mean that we can make our roads, hospitals, schools, agriculture etc. more resilient to natural hazards and climate change," said Alanna Simpson from the GFDRR Labs team. "For example, people rarely think of the potential for earthquakes in Uganda, but now everyone who builds schools in Uganda can quickly access information to understand the threat from different natural hazards and ensure that schools and students are safe from disasters."

Currently Think Hazard! relies predominantly on global earthquake hazard data to determine the level of hazard, far from ideal when the tool is used on a district level, Simpson said. "We know that the EERI community has done a huge amount of research globally into earthquake hazard levels and we would like this knowledge to be integrated into Think Hazard!" Full credit is given to the institutions that provide information.

To learn more about Think Hazard! and the efforts of the GFDDR at the World Bank, contact Alanna Simpson at asimpson1@worldbank.org

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Calendar

Follow these steps to add EERI Calendar to your own Google calendar.

  1. Open Google Calendar
  2. On the left, above "My Calendars," click Add + and then From URL.
  3. Enter the EERI calendar's address in the field provided. EERI Calendar ics link https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/eeri.org_s9151tit0ab26dnf2epn25d7rg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  4. Click Add Calendar. The calendar will appear on the left side under "Other calendars."

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Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
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