Mid-America Earthquake Center

International Workshop on "Seismic Risk in Urban Areas"

With co-sponsorship of the Italian GNDT (National Group for Defense Against Earthquakes) and participation with the SAFERR program sponsored by the European Union, the Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center held an international conference in Erice, Sicily, on "Seismic Risk in Urban Areas." Technical presentations included papers on identification of inventories of the built environment, vulnerability of structures and networks, methods for assessing and mitigating seismic risk including socio-economic factors, and methods for characterizing seismic hazards.

Conference presentations indicated a significant degree of overlap in research on these topics on both sides of the Atlantic. Conference participants from different countries agreed that mitigation of urban seismic risk is an essential step towards reduction of earthquake consequences, and that further research is needed to better define seismic hazards and inventories of the built environment, to better characterize vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure components, to improve estimates of socio-economic impact, and to visualize research results for improved implementation.

The GNDT-MAE-SAFERR trilateral collaboration was an effective means for sharing research information, exchanging researchers, and holding forums such as this conference. Keynote and selected papers, rapporteurs' summaries, and resolutions from this conference have been published as a special volume of the Journal of Earthquake Engineering. Participants left Erice with a shared knowledge regarding earthquake risk reduction, new exchanges of technical information and data, new ideas for their research, resolutions on which to base future collaborative activities, and strengthened friendships.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the Mid-America Earthquake Center web page at http://mae.ce.uiuc.edu/Archive/story/ERICE%20Conference%
20Program%20040803.pdf

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GNDT-SAFERR Conference, May 2003.

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Last modified: February 16, 2005