David Wald (M. EERI, 1988), USGS seismologist and Colorado School of Mines adjunct professor, will deliver the 2014 EERI Distinguished Lecture, “Challenges in Estimating Real-time Earthquake Shaking & Impact,” at the Tenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (10NCEE) to be held July 21–25 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Wald has been a pioneer in developing tools, such as “Did You Feel It?,” Shake Map, and ShakeCast, that serve a broad audience including first responders, government officials, utilities, earth scientists, and engineers. More than 70,000 individuals receive ShakeMap alerts in California, Washington, Utah, Hawaii, Nevada, and Alaska.

Wald and Paul Earle developed PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response), which estimates the number of people subjected to levels of ground shaking within 30 minutes of an earthquake anywhere around the globe. The PAGER report also provides a simplified color coded alert related to the level of the catastrophe using the Earthquake Impact Scale (EIS). This advancement has enabled humanitarian organizations to provide quick and appropriate responses to disasters.

Wald earned a Ph.D. from Caltech after which he worked as a National Research Council postdoctoral research associate, 1993-1995. Wald’s experience also includes a position at the USGS in Pasadena, both as a seismologist and visiting associate faculty at Caltech, and a consulting seismologist with Woodward-Clyde Consultants in Pasadena, 1986-1988. He is an excellent speaker and often appears on television in news broadcasts or specials produced by the History Channel, the Learning Channel, PBS, and others to discuss earthquakes, earthquake ground motions, hazards, and damage.

Dr. Wald’s groundbreaking work will fit with the “Frontiers of Earthquake Engineering” theme of the 10NCEE in Alaska. His ability to address the needs of many audiences means that he is able to create a talk with broad appeal. His innovative use of technology to address challenging problems will interest students who are truly immersed in the information age.

Abstract: “Challenges in Estimating Real-time Earthquake Shaking & Impact” Lecture

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed several near-real time earthquake information systems that provide rapid and automated alerting of estimated economic and human impacts following earthquakes. In this talk I describe the four components that rapidly assess an earthquake’s impact. First, earthquakes trigger rapid source characterization; second, these source parameters help inform our estimates of shaking-distribution (ShakeMap). Third, losses are modeled by computing populations exposed per shaking intensity level, and country-specific loss functions are used to provide estimates of economic impact and potential casualties (PAGER). Finally, these uncertain loss estimates are communicated in an appropriate form for actionable decision-making among a variety of users.

Several aspects of our problem cannot yet be adequately solved with purely empirical or solely mechanistic approaches. The “physics-based” model components are essential for informing empirical loss models where they are data-limited, and for providing a framework for better understanding the causative pathways that dominate earthquake losses. In the course of explaining the end-to-end strategies and science/engineering we employ, I describe the pragmatic choices made in balancing the uncertainties in and benefits provided by our empirical and physical models. Recognizing and reconciling the complimentary benefits of data-driven versus theoretical problem solving is at the core of our end-to-end earthquake hazard and loss estimates, as it is for a wide variety of other challenges within the earth and engineering sciences.

Requests
EERI student chapters will be sent a survey later this year where they can make a request for Dr. David Wald’s presentation of his Distinguished Lecture at their school. Other groups who would like to make this request should contact the EERI office at eeri@eeri.org and 510-451-0905.

Note: See the full list of 2014 EERI Award Recipients at http://bit.ly/1c3HttF. In the next issue of The Pulse, we will feature the 2014 William B. Joyner Lecturer.

Register today for the Tenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (10NCEE) being held this July in Anchorage, Alaska. For the latest 10NCEE information about Travel Grants, Travel and Lodging, Pre-Conference Events, Thursday Evening at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and Paper Acceptances, visit the 10NCEE website at www.10ncee.org.

Technical Tours

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and the local 10NCEE organizing committee have planned a number of technical tours for conference participants (listed below). For up-to-date information about technical tours, visit the 10NCEE website at www.10ncee.org/tours.

Full Day Tour: The Mountains and Glaciers of Turnagain Arm and Portage Valley
Date: Monday, July 21, 2014
Time: Depart Anchorage Hilton lobby at 8:00 a.m. and return at approximately 3:00 p.m.
Enjoy a trip back in time exploring the impacts of the 1964 earthquake that are still visible along Turnagain Arm. Before the conference gets going, enjoy a trip traveling through Girdwood and Portage.
Trip Leaders: local experts

Half Day Tour: Hatcher Pass and Tsunami Warning Center
Date: Friday, July 25, 2014
Time: Depart Dena’ina Conference Convention Center at 1:45 p.m. and return to the Anchorage Hilton Lobby at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Following the final 10NCEE presentations, a tour will head north to the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and discuss examples of local damage from the 1964 earthquake. Explore earthquakes and tsunamis in Alaska and beyond at the West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.
Trip Leaders: local experts

4-Day Tour: Active Faults and Seismic Hazards in Central Alaska
Date: Saturday, July 26 to Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Time: Depart Anchorage Hilton lobby at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, July 26. Return to Anchorage Tuesday evening, July 29, around 5:00 p.m. As we cannot guarantee the return time of the field trip to Anchorage, please plan on staying in Anchorage on Tuesday night, July 29 (at your own expense).
The route provides memorable views of the Susitna Basin, Alaska Range, Denali National Park, Tanana Valley, Copper River Basin, and the Wrangell Mountains, some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. (*This trip is dependent on a minimum number of participants. If this quota is not reached by March 15, 2014, the trip will be cancelled and money will be refunded.)
Trip Leaders: Dr. Gary Carver (M. EERI, 2008), Dr. Richard Koehler, Dr. Sean Bemis, and Dr. Douglas Nyman (M. EERI, 1975)

Register today for 10NCEE at www.10ncee.org! We hope to see you in Anchorage this summer.

EERI would like to take this opportunity to announce new Bronze Subscribing Member: Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers.

Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE), founded in 1910 in New York City, is the first firm in the United States to combine a geotechnical specialty with structural foundation design engineering. Today MRCE remains a leader in the field they pioneered, providing structural design of foundations and waterfront structures and complete geotechnical studies. By combining geotechnical engineering with structural foundation design engineering, MRCE specializes in complicated sites, especially in urban areas.

Visit the MRCE website at http://www.mrce.com/index.htm .

To view the full list of EERI Subscribing Members, visit: https://www.eeri.org/about-eeri/subscribing-members/.

Become an EERI Subscribing Member Today
If you would like to learn more about how your company can become an EERI Subscribing Member and support the Institute’s mission and programs, visit the EERI website at https://www.eeri.org/member-center/get-involved/become-a-member/.

An EERI team is convening in New Zealand this month to observe and understand how stakeholders in the country are measuring, monitoring, and acting upon data-driven indicators of recovery after the Canterbury earthquakes. The team will spend time in Christchurch and Wellington to meet with New Zealand experts about the collection and management of data, including its usefulness; data exchangeability; and limitations for measuring and monitoring all aspects of recovery from the Canterbury earthquake sequence.

The EERI New Zealand team is being led by Scott Miles (M. EERI, 2009), Western Washington University, and includes Chris Poland (M. EERI, 1998), Degenkolb Engineers; Liesel Ritchie (M. EERI, 2012), Natural Hazards Center; Yu Xiao (M. EERI, 2011), Texas A&M University; and Nick Hedley (M. EERI, 2014), Simon Fraser University. The group will be looking at all aspects of the recovery and the team members bring a wide range of expertise including: structural engineering, sociology, social capital, well-being, urban planning, economic development, recovery financing, geography, spatial data, data synthesis, crowd-sourcing and “informal” data, lifelines, urban developments, and schools.

The trip is the first case study as part of an NSF-funded project, “Seismic Observatory for Community Resilience — A Program to Learn from Earthquakes.” The project will help EERI understand the infrastructure necessary to facilitate measuring and monitoring recovery after future earthquakes. The final outcome of the project will be a guideline for establishing a “resilience observatory” after a disaster that includes guidance on how EERI can work with local agencies to help establish these observatories.

EERI is currently recruiting members for new advisory committees that are being formed to provide guidance for two projects—the Concrete Coalition and the California Earthquake Clearinghouse. The advisory committees will help EERI staff set priorities for these two projects and provide guidance as the projects move forward. If you are interested in serving on either of these advisory committees, please complete the online survey by March 10, 2014 at www.surveymonkey.com/s/EERI_Advisory_Committees . A few more details on each project follow.

The Concrete Coalition
This project has been underway for several years. In an earlier phase, the focus was on conducting inventories of older concrete buildings in California cities. A database of damaged concrete buildings was developed in a later phase at http://db.concretecoalition.org/. In a most recent phase, the focus has been on developing a website and online tool kits that can help governments understand options for dealing with the most vulnerable of these buildings. In addition, volunteers have explored techniques to categorize buildings using photos and Google Earth. More information about the project and its phases is available at www.concretecoalition.org.

The advisory committee will meet via conference call no more than monthly. There may be one face-to-face meeting early in the year. EERI members who are interested in older concrete buildings, both in terms of improving the understanding of their vulnerability and in helping develop policy options, are encouraged to apply.

The California Clearinghouse
EERI has received funding from this project from the USGS for several years. EERI is one of 5 managing partners of the Clearinghouse, along with the California Geological Survey, the USGS, the California Office of Emergency Services, and the California Seismic Safety Commission. Recent activities have centered on developing working relationships with many state, local, and federal agencies and on using the UICDS technology to transfer data among interested organizations.

EERI would like to create an advisory committee for this project that will focus specifically on EERI’s role after a future damaging earthquake. What are the data collection tools that are most useful for EERI members, what type of training needs to be developed, how will EERI contribute information to emergency responders, what are the options for long-term storage of data collected at the Clearinghouse, etc.

While the focus of this committee will be on California, many of these issues are directly applicable to EERI’s reconnaissance mission in other states. Thus not all committee members need to be based in California.

The advisory committee will meet via conference call no more than monthly. There may be one face-to-face meeting early in the year. EERI members who are interested in earthquake reconnaissance protocols, data collection tools, data display, and data management options are encouraged to apply.

The California Earthquake Clearinghouse and its partners are hosting a one-day workshop for local first responder agencies on April 17, 2014 in Oakland, CA. The workshop offers a hands-on technology interchange opportunity. The goal of the workshop is to introduce local (city/county) First Responder agencies to tools for sharing spatial incident response information using the technologies that have been demonstrated in our Clearinghouse exercises.

The morning will include introductions to and demonstrations of a suite of data collections and sharing tools, and the afternoon will provide attendees the opportunity to use the tools to view and share data-related relevant use cases, e.g., major earthquakes. The workshop will be followed by a networking reception. There is no cost to attend the meeting and the workshop will also be broadcast online for those unable to attend in person.

To receive more details about the workshop as they become available, please sign up through the Clearinghouse website at http://www.californiaeqclearinghouse.org/user-request-form/.

Register today for the Tenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (10NCEE) held this July in Anchorage, Alaska at https://www.eeri.org/cohost/registration/10ncee-registration. Below is the latest information about (1) Travel Grants, (2) Travel and Lodging, (3) Pre-Conference Events, (4) Thursday Evening at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and (5) Paper Acceptances.

Travel Grants Available for Graduate Students and Early Career Professionals

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Pankow Foundation, and EERI have made funds available to award travel grants to graduate students and early career professionals to defray travel costs for attending the 10th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (10NCEE). Awards are limited to graduate students and early career professionals. Graduate students and early career academics must attend or teach at a U.S. university as of March 1, 2014. These grants are being coordinated by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI).

All recipients are expected to contribute four hours of voluntary service during the conference. We anticipate providing funding for 30–40 participants, with an average grant value of $750. The application deadline is Friday, March 7. The award selection criteria are included on the application page at https://www.eeri.org/cohost/registration/travel-grants.

Travel and Lodging

All 10NCEE participants are urged to book travel and lodging as soon as possible. Alaska is a popular summer tourist destination, and lodging and travel will become scarce and more expensive as the spring/summer season approaches.

NEW Pre-Conference Event: Direct Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Buildings Seminar

Date: Monday, July 21, 2014
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Location: Hilton Anchorage
Presenters: Dr. Nigel Priestley, Dr. Michele Calvi (M. EERI, 1990), and Dr. Mervyn Kowalsky (M. EERI, 1994)

This seminar will introduce participants to displacement-based seismic design (DDBD) and demonstrate how it can be implemented in the design office as a simple and rational alternative to current prescriptive methods of seismic design. The course will show that serious conceptual problems exist with current force-based seismic design and will demonstrate how these deficiencies are resolved when a simple displacement-based design approach is adopted. The DDBD approach results in structures with uniform seismic risk for a given performance level, which is compatible with uniform risk spectra. This is not achieved with current force-based design procedures. To read the seminar program, visit: http://10ncee.org/images/program/DDBD_ProgramPage.pdf.

Cost: Early-bird registration is $295. A companion textbook, if ordered as a part of early-bird registration for the seminar, can be obtained for the price of $120, including shipping, and will be available for pickup at the seminar. Note that current prices for the textbook on Amazon are $206. Registration increases to $365 on June 15th, at which point companion textbooks are no longer available.

Register for the event now at https://www.eeri.org/cohost/registration/ddbd-july-21-2014.

Thursday Evening at the Alaska Native Heritage Center

Date: Thursday, July 24, 2014
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Join us on Thursday evening, July 24, for a night-out at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage during 10NCEE. The Alaska Native Heritage Center is an amazing interactive cultural experience. More than a museum, the Center provides an opportunity to explore the indigenous cultures of Alaska firsthand.

Food and drink tables will be available throughout the large indoor/outdoor venue. The evening event will also feature native dance performances as well as demonstrations of native games . Local hosts will be present to answer any questions you have about the different cultures of Alaska. For the latest info about the Thursday evening event, visit: http://10ncee.org/tours/evening-at-the-alaska-native-heritage-center.

Cost: $40 for conference registrants and $60 for guests. Cost includes transportation, entertainment, food, and drinks.

Register for 10NCEE and the Thursday evening event at https://www.eeri.org/cohost/registration/10ncee-registration.

New Sponsors

Shannon & Wilson, Inc. is a new 10NCEE Silver Sponsor. The firm is a nationally recognized leader in geotechnical, earthquake, and environmental engineering, providing integrated services to private and public clients. Shannon & Wilson’s seismic experts have long been at the forefront in using ground response modeling to support the design of foundation support systems. They are experienced in specialized work for critical structures such as communications centers, nuclear facilities, dams, and hospitals. Visit: www.shannonwilson.com .

For the full list of 10NCEE sponsors, visit: http://10ncee.org/sponsors.

Paper Acceptances

Acceptance notices indicating session assignments were sent to authors on Thursday, February 13, 2014.

Final revised papers are due by March 17, 2104. Final submission of the paper must be accompanied by payment of the full conference registration fee for the presenting author. For more info on papers, visit: http://10ncee.org/authors-speakers.

Speakers without Papers

All speakers for theme and special sessions who do not have papers are required to register and pay the full conference fee by March 17, 2014.

Masayoshi Nakashima (M. EERI, 1988), professor at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, will be presented with the George W. Housner Medal at the 2014 EERI Annual Meeting, which takes place as part of the 10th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (10NCEE). The Housner Medal is awarded to recognize Institute members and others who have made extraordinary and lasting contributions to public earthquake safety through the development and application of earthquake hazard reduction practices and policies.

Nakashima’s research contributions have had a profound impact on the advancement of earthquake engineering. His seminal work in the development of hybrid simulation, notably the experimental error propagation and suppression associated with the control, the introduction and implementation of the concept of substructuring, and the extension of hybrid simulation in real time, led to extensive developments of the associated technologies in the subsequent fifteen years. His work opened up this new area of research. Hybrid simulation laboratories now exist at most major research universities and centers, and researchers worldwide are contributing to these developments.

Nakashima’s contributions to these modern experimental techniques of hybrid simulation and large-scale shaking table tests were especially effective in advancing seismic resistant design because they were rooted in his original research background in the analysis and design of steel structures.

His leadership at the E-Defense facility in Japan resulted in forty large-scale shaking table tests within six years, many more than all the large-scale shaking table tests combined in other countries. A summary of the E-Defense’s large-scale shaking table tests can be found at
http://www.bosai.go.jp/hyogo/ehyogo/index.html .

Masayoshi Nakashima has been a leader in promoting research collaboration between the United States and Japan. His participation goes back to the 1980s when a U.S./Japan joint research program was implemented under the auspices of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Japanese Ministry of Construction. Starting 2005, Masayoshi Nakashima has led joint research between NEES and E-Defense. Three large-scale tests funded through the NEES program (a six-story wood frame, a three-story innovative rocking frame, and a five-story base-isolated structure) were successfully implemented at E-Defense facilities. Recognizing his important contributions to U.S.-Japan collaboration, the NEES community bestowed upon him the recognition of “Outstanding Service to the NEES Research Community (2008).” To date, he is the sole foreign individual who has received this recognition.

Professor Nakashima served as Vice-President of the Architectural Institute of Japan (2007-2009), Vice-President of the Japanese Society for Earthquake Engineering (2009-2011), and a Director of EERI (2008-2010).

Note: See the full list of 2014 EERI Award Recipients at http://bit.ly/1c3HttF. In the next issue of The Pulse, we will feature the 2014 EERI Distinguished Lecturer.

Late sociologist Bill Anderson (M. EERI, 2001) worked tirelessly in the field of disaster risk reduction and was a great proponent of attempting to understand and address the ways in which vulnerable populations suffer in disaster. With this in mind, his family has announced the creation of a new fund that will further those ideals.

The William Averette Anderson Fund for Hazard and Disaster Mitigation Education and Research will assist earth scientists, engineers, practitioners, and social scientists to focus on mitigating the impacts of disasters on vulnerable and underserved populations in the United States.

“As I considered how best to honor Bill, my thoughts were immediately directed to his deep commitment to promoting the study of women, children, African Americans, persons of color and of other vulnerable populations in disaster hazard mitigation,” his wife Norma Doneghy Anderson wrote. “It is with his commitment in mind that I am establishing the William Averette Anderson Fund for Hazard and Disaster Mitigation Education and Research.”

Anderson passed away unexpectedly on December 29. For more than two decades, Bill served as a National Science Foundation program officer, providing invaluable guidance and support. His distinguished career included positions at the American Sociological Association, NSF, the World Bank, and the National Academies. He was a consummate researcher, mentor, and leader.

Those interested in learning more about the fund or making a contribution can visit the Fund website , or check out the Facebook page that’s been created to help promote the effort.

(This article is reprinted with permission from the Natural Hazards Center .)

Celebration of Life

The Anderson family has planned a Celebration of Life service for Bill on March 22, 2014 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at:

Argyle Country Club
14600 Argyle Country Club Road
Silver Spring, MD 20906

The celebration will begin with a one-hour visitation at 10:30 a.m. followed by a memorial service at 11:30 a.m. The service will be followed, at the same location, with a buffet lunch. They request an RSVP for those planning to attend the celebration no later than Monday, March 17, 2014. Email your RSVP to Norma@BillAndersonFund.org.

A report based on the findings of an EERI team that conducted a ten-day visit (July 20–August 7, 2013) to areas of Sri Lanka affected by the 2004 tsunami is now available in the EERI Learning from Earthquakes Reconnaissance Archive. The team members were Guillermo Franco (M. EERI, 2005), Guy Carpenter; Alpa Sheth (M. EERI, 2010), VMS Consultants Private Limited; and Michelle Meyer (M. EERI, 2013), Texas A&M University.

The report will inform the drafting of a best practices guide for Disaster Recovery Frameworks. This initiative is being developed by the European Union, the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, and the World Bank’s Global Facility of Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) . Individual case studies are being prepared on particular countries’ rebuilding and reconstruction efforts, and several thematic case studies are being developed, including one on Building Back Better (BBB) practices, as defined by the GFDRR.

The report focuses on the following areas studied during the team’s time in Sri Lanka:

• The definition of Building Back Better (BBB)
• Policies and the institutional framework created for the initial recovery and reconstruction
• The tsunami housing reconstruction programs and the strengths and weaknesses of the owner- and donor-driven reconstruction schemes
• Early warning systems put in place
• Advances related to the health, tourism, and fisheries sectors

Funding for the team came from a grant agreement between EERI and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) of the World Bank.