Workshops to Identify Research Needs Emerging from the 2010 Haiti and Chile Earthquakes

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Oakland CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support for two workshops to identify emerging themes and directions for potential research resulting from the magnitude 7.0 January 12, 2010, Haiti earthquake and the magnitude 8.8 February 27, 2010, Chile earthquake. These two earthquakes are among the top five earthquakes in recorded history in terms of number of fatalities and magnitude size. The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) will organize these workshops to explore needed research and data gathering opportunities from these two major seismic events. EERI has a long and successful history of organizing workshops following major important earthquakes. EERI staff will organize, plan, and manage the workshops, and then prepare and disseminate reports summarizing workshop results and research recommendations. Both the Haiti and Chile earthquakes present major learning opportunities of different types for the U.S. engineering and scientific communities. The Haiti earthquake has research lessons emerging from the response and rebuilding. The complex and devastating nature of that disaster will shape these lessons across many disciplines. A different set of research needs and lessons will emerge from Chile, which is one of the most significant earthquakes for the U.S. earthquake engineering community in the last several decades. Building codes in Chile are similar to those used in the United States for concrete and steel buildings; there are strong motion records that provide important data; the geologic setting is similar to the Pacific Northwest; there are similarities and lessons from the transportation, lifelines, and critical facilities sectors; and there are similar social and public policy issues in the response and recovery. The workshop on the Chilean earthquake will be held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, VA, on August 19, 2010; the workshop on the Haitian earthquake will be held at NSF on September 30-October 1, 2010. Each workshop will be led by an organizing steering committee and include participants who conducted post-earthquake investigations for the event through NSF-supported RAPID or similar awards, and invited collaborators from the affected country. Objectives and Broader Impacts: The objective of these two workshops is to identify major research themes and directions emerging from the 2010 earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. Workshop participants will identify these directions to guide NSF's programs for future research related to these events. Participants will define major lessons and opportunities for further research across a range of disciplines, including topics that are multi- and cross-disciplinary in nature. Transformative and cross-cultural research areas will be identified, where appropriate. Recommendations from these two workshops will be shared widely with the broader research and practicing earthquake engineering communities through EERI's clearinghouse website (http://www.eeri.org), EERI newsletter, and NSF (http://www.nsf.gov) and NEHRP (http://www.nehrp.gov) websites. Intellectual Merit: These workshops will draw on world-recognized experts in a wide range of disciplines related to earthquake and disaster research, mitigation, response and recovery. Their interaction and synergy in the workshops will result in an intellectually rigorous set of recommendations for future research that identifies opportunities for linkages across disciplines and topics, and clearly illuminates the most important directions for research emerging from these major earthquakes. This award is co-funded by the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems and is part of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).