News of the Institute

Save the Date: 2023 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, April 11-14!

EERI is delighted to announce that the 2023 Annual Meeting will be held from April 11-14, 2023 in San Francisco, California. The 2023 Annual Meeting will celebrate and showcase the 50th anniversary of EERI’s flagship program, Learning From Earthquakes (LFE), which was formally established in 1973. In an exciting new format, the 4-day meeting will consist of a one-day technical program preceded and followed by a series of workshops and exercises that will offer attendees hands-on training in earthquake reconnaissance and showcase opportunities for members to become involved in LFE projects and activities.

The one-day technical program on Wednesday, April 12 will feature several plenary sessions, the 2023 EERI Distinguished Lecture by Judith Mitrani-Reiser, and the 2023 Joyner Lecture by Jack Baker, as well as the EERI Awards Ceremony and a networking reception. On Tuesday, April 11, a full-day Early Career Training Workshop will be hosted in coordination with the Younger Members Committee and sponsored by Computers and Structures. The week will end with a Reconnaissance Training Workshop on Thursday, April 13 with partner organizations, followed by an exciting Reconnaissance Field Exercise that will provide a hands-on opportunity to exercise earthquake clearinghouse operations and improve reconnaissance coordination. The 2023 Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition will take place throughout the week, with shaking day on Thursday open to all attendees.

Registration for the meeting will open in mid-December. CSI has generously sponsored many registration grants for early career members and the application form will be launched soon. More details about the theme, program, and format will be announced shortly!

Don't Forget to Renew for 2023!

The membership year is coming to an end, and we hope that you’ve found your EERI membership valuable this year! By renewing, you’ll continue to gain opportunities to build community and connections, expand your knowledge of the earthquake risk reduction field, and grow your leadership skills. We hope you take a moment to renew your membership for 2023, so that we can do more (and even better!) together in the years ahead.

If there’s anything that we can do to enhance your membership experience, drop us a line at eeri@eeri.org. There is still time to renew your membership and remain a part of our passionate and dedicated community. It couldn’t be easier—just click here to renew!

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Awards

Jack Baker Selected as 2023 Joyner Lecturer

EERI and the Seismological Society of America (SSA) are pleased to announce that Jack Baker (M.EERI 2004), professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative, is the 2023 recipient of the William B. Joyner Lecture Award. Baker will deliver the Joyner Lecture at the EERI Annual Meeting in San Francisco on April 12, 2023, and the 2023 SSA Annual Meeting to be held April 17-20, 2023 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The lectureship is jointly awarded by EERI and SSA to those who have provided outstanding earth science contributions to the theory and practice of earthquake engineering or outstanding earthquake engineering contributions to the direction and focus of earth science research—together with demonstrated skills of communication at the interface of earthquake science and earthquake engineering. The lecture honors the distinguished career of William B. Joyner at the U.S. Geological Survey and his abiding commitment to continuing communication and education at the interface between research findings of earthquake science and the practical realities of earthquake engineering.

Baker’s research is at the forefront of the interface between earthquake seismology and earthquake engineering, focusing on the use of probabilistic and statistical tools for modeling of extreme loads on structures. At Stanford, he has worked on projects involving risk to spatially distributed systems, earthquake ground motion characterization, and predictions of soil failure from earthquakes. Baker has served as an Associate Editor for both SSA’s Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America and EERI’s Earthquake Spectra. He has been Editor of Earthquake Spectra since 2018, and will become Editor-in-Chief in January 2023. He is a recipient of both the Shah Family Innovation Prize and the Earthquake Spectra Outstanding Paper Award.

Baker’s Joyner lecture will focus on spatial correlations in ground shaking, exploring the measurement of correlations from seismological data, and the impacts of these correlations on risk to distributed infrastructure systems. For more information about the Baker and the Joyner Lecture Award, visit the News post on the EERI website here or the announcement at the SSA website here.

Judith Mitrani-Reiser Selected as 2023 Distinguished Lecturer

EERI is pleased to announce that Judith Mitrani-Reiser (M.EERI 2001) has been selected as the 2023 Distinguished Lecturer in recognition of her exemplary work on and support for investigations of building and infrastructure failures, disaster recovery and community resilience, and multi-hazard mitigation, and contributions that lead to statutory and technical standards changes for a safer world against earthquakes and other extreme events. EERI’s annual Distinguished Lecture Award is awarded to members of the Institute to recognize and encourage communication of outstanding professional contributions of major importance for earthquake hazard mitigation. Mitrani-Reiser will deliver her Distinguished Lecture at the 2023 Annual Meeting in San Francisco on April 12, 2023.

Mitrani-Reiser has dedicated her career to reduction of losses from disasters and failures in our built environment. As a Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), she provides leadership for programs including the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction program. She currently leads the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) investigation for the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Florida, and remains active in the Hurricane Maria NCST investigation. She was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at UC Berkeley in 2021 and has received several NIST awards for her mentorship, dedication to a safe working environment, and her advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

A dedicated EERI member, Mitrani-Reiser on the Board of Directors from 2018 to 2021 and as Vice-President in 2021. She participated in Learning from Earthquakes (LFE) reconnaissance missions in Chile and Christchurch, offering her holistic mindset. She was also instrumental in establishing the LFE Travel Study program and the Virtual Earthquake Reconnaissance Team (VERT).

For more information about Mitrani-Reiser and the Joyner Lecture Award, visit the News post on the EERI website here.

2022 Shah Family Innovation Prize Awarded to Gerard O'Reilly

EERI is pleased to announce that the 2022 recipient of the Shah Family Innovation Prize is Gerard J. O'Reilly (M.EERI 2022), in recognition of his significant and diverse research output and its impact on engineering practice, as well as his leadership in designing and coordinating international collaborations across the seismic world. The Shah Prize is awarded to early- to mid-career individuals who have emphasized creative and innovative thinking and demonstrated the potential to make major contributions to the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management. The prize recognizes a combination of past accomplishments and future potential.

Gerard J. O’Reilly is an Assistant Professor at the Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS) in Pavia, Italy. His research focuses on seismic design and assessment of structures to incorporate innovative aspects of performance-based earthquake engineering. These include loss and risk targeting approaches in a general effort design towards the next generation of design codes, as well as the Sismabonus risk classification guidelines in Italy. He is the principal investigator of the ROSSINI project to develop a risk-based navigation system for industrial plant workers at risk of NaTech events. He also serves as the coordinator of the €11.6M EU-funded ERIES (Engineering Research Infrastructures for European Synergies) project, which provides transnational access to conduct experimental research and advance frontier knowledge related to seismic, wind and geotechnical hazards.

For more information about O'Reilly and the Shah Prize, visit the News post on the EERI website here.

Dustin Cook and Diane Moug Receive 2023 Younger Member Award

EERI is pleased to announce that the recipients of the 2022 Younger Member Award are Dustin Cook (M.EERI 2018) and Diane Moug (M.EERI 2014). The EERI Younger Member Award is awarded to recognize early-career members of the Institute who have made outstanding contributions to the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the pursuit of its objectives in the early stages of their career—especially contributions that have improved opportunities for and increased the impact of younger members within the Institute. 

Dustin Cook is a Research Structural Engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. As part of the Earthquake Engineering Group, he specializes in performance-based earthquake engineering, structural analysis, seismic design, risk quantification, and post-earthquake building recovery. He is passionate about improving community resilience through recovery-based design principles and empowering policy makers with quantitative tools for risk communication and decision making under uncertainty, and is currently collaborating with others to propose updated design guidelines and prescriptive requirements for functional recovery design objectives for new buildings in future editions of the building code. Cook serves as a Co-Chair of the EERI Younger Members Committee, as a member of the Learning From Earthquakes Business Resilience Subcommittee, and as a secretary for the World Housing Encyclopedia. He is awarded in recognition of his leadership of the Younger Members Committee, his contributions and improvements to the World Housing Encyclopedia, and his research excellence within the field of performance-based earthquake engineering.

Diane Moug is an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Portland State University. Her research aims to reduce geotechnical earthquake hazards through improved hazard characterization in poorly-understood soils and innovative mitigation. She is particularly focused on the earthquake hazards of the Pacific Northwest’s fine-grained silty soils and at the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub in Portland, Oregon. She also investigates liquefaction mitigation through microbially induced desaturation. She teaches courses on introductory and advanced soil mechanics, computational geomechanics, and geotechnical site investigation. Moug currently serves as Co-Chair of the EERI Younger Members Committee. She is also a past Co-President and Treasurer of the Student Leadership Committee. She is awarded in recognition of her longstanding commitment to and leadership of the Student Leadership Council and Younger Members Committee, her advocacy for emerging professionals, and her technical leadership in earthquake engineering.

For more information about the recipients and the Younger Member Award, visit the News post on the EERI website here.

 

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Spectra

Welcoming Jack Baker as Editor-in-Chief and Helen Crowley as Editor

EERI is delighted to announce the Board of Directors has appointed Jack Baker (M.EERI 2004) Editor-in-Chief and Helen Crowley (M.EERI 2008) Editor of Earthquake Spectra. They will take up their new positions in January 2023.

“EERI thanks David Wald for his four years of outstanding service as Editor-in-Chief,” said Executive Director Heidi Tremayne. “Under his leadership, Spectra’s 2021 Impact Factor rose to 4.330, and he navigated a complex and very successful transition from our prior self-published model to our current publisher SAGE. Congratulations to Jack and Helen—we look forward to seeing the journal continuing to grow and thrive with the new editorial team!”

Baker has been Editor of Spectra since 2018, and previously served as an Associate Editor for both Spectra and the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. He is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at Stanford University. His research is at the forefront of the interface of earthquake seismology and earthquake engineering, and he also has industry experience in seismic hazard assessment, construction management, and modeling of catastrophic losses for insurance companies. Baker is the 2011 recipient of the Spectra Outstanding Paper Award and was awarded the Shah Family Innovation Prize in 2010. He was recently named the recipient of the 2023 William B. Joyner Lecture Award.

Crowley, an Associate Editor of Spectra from 2012-18, is an independent seismic risk consultant. She currently works with the European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE) on a number of projects related to seismic risk and loss modeling, and she recently coordinated the development of the first openly available European seismic risk model. She worked as a seismic risk researcher at EUCENTRE and later coordinated seismic risk activities at the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation. She also served as Deputy Secretary General of the GEM Foundation from 2012 to 2014. She is a recipient of the 2012 Shah Family Innovation Prize and the 2009 European Geosciences Union Plinius Medal.

Read more about Baker and Crowley in the News post on the EERI website here. And stay tuned for a message from David Wald and more announcements about the Spectra leadership transition in the coming issues of Pulse!

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Webinars

Quick Quake Briefing: Philippines M7.0 Earthquake of July 27, 2022

Thursday, December 1, 2022
4:00-5:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time
REGISTER HERE

The EERI Northern California Regional Chapter is hosting a FREE webinar today on the M7.0 earthquake that struck Luzon Island in northern Philippines. Onshore active faults and opposing dipping subduction systems produce volcanic activity, earthquakes, and tsunamis making Luzon Island one of the most hazard-prone regions on Earth. Since 1970, eleven other quakes having magnitudes 6.5 or greater have occurred within about 150 miles of the July quake.

The earthquake occurred on the northern segment of the Philippine Fault system. On the Philippines Earthquake Intensity Scale, a maximum Intensity of VIII (very destructive) was reported in the City of Vigan (pop. 60,000). It was also felt in Manila, capital of the Philippines, about 250 miles to the south. More than 513,000 people were affected, of which, 57,000 were displaced. Eleven fatalities were reported, and at least 620 people were injured. A total of 36,000 homes were affected, including 690 which were totally destroyed. An additional 180 healthcare facilities were damaged, and over 8,000 schools were affected.

Two speakers from the Philippines will present:

• Dr. Mario Aurelio, Professor, University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences, Quezon City, will discuss the seismotectonic setting of the area struck twice by strong magnitude earthquakes within a period of less than three months.
• Dr. Lessandro Estelito Garciano, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila and Director of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP), will present on observed building damage from field surveys.

2022 Michoacán, Mexico Earthquake Reconnaissance Briefing: A Joint EERI-SMIS Webinar

Thursday, December 8, 2022
11:00 AM-12:30 PM, Pacific Standard Time
REGISTER HERE

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Learning from Earthquakes Program, the Sociedad Mexicana de Ingeniería Sísmica (SMIS), the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association (GEER) invite you to a free reconnaissance briefing webinar on the M7.6 September 19, 2022 Michoacán, Mexico Earthquake.

This was the third major earthquake to occur in Mexico on September 19th in the last 40 years. A large earthquake drill in Mexico City is carried out annually on the anniversary of the great Mw 8.0 September 19, 1985 earthquake. On September 19, 2017, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake a few hours after the city wide earthquake drill. This magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck again on the anniversary of the 1985 earthquake, but now only about 45 min after the city-wide earthquake drill. The Seismic Early Warning System of Mexico (SASMEX) was triggered as a result of this event and provided a 98-second warning in Mexico City. The earthquake caused moderate to extensive damage to structures near the epicenter, mainly affecting the states of Colima and Michoacán. Observed geotechnical impacts include roadway and bridge damage, damage to a drainage culvert, and ground failure from liquefaction, lateral spreading, and landsliding. The earthquake also produced a small tsunami with a maximum measured wave amplitude of 1.7m in the port of Manzanillo.

This webinar will provide an overview of the earthquake seismology, earthquake early warning system performance, and geotechnical and structural engineering impacts.

Speakers:

• Dr. Eduardo Miranda is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, specializing in performance-based earthquake engineering, and co-chair of the Learning From Earthquakes Executive Committee.
• Dr. Héctor Guerrero Bobadilla is President of the Sociedad Mexicana de Ingeniería Sísmica and a researcher in structural engineering at the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
• Dr. Leonardo Ramirez Guzmán is a professor and researcher in the Engineering Seismology Group at the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
• Dr. Juan Manuel Espinosa is an engineer and the founder and Director-General of CIRES, the Center for Seismic Instrumentation and Recording in Mexico.
• Kevin Clahan is a Principal Geologist at Lettis Consultants International and an expert in the fields of engineering geology, seismic hazard, and slope stability.
• Dr. Juan Manuel Mayoral Villa is a civil and geotechnical earthquake engineer and a research professor at the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he is the head of the Advance Numerical Modeling and Instrumentation group.
• Dr. Sergio Alcocer is a research professor at the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the former undersecretary for North America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.
• Maggie Ortiz-Millan is the Director of Programs at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

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Opportunities

NHERI SimCenter Postdoctoral Positions

The NHERI SimCenter invites applications for four full-time Postdoctoral Scholar positions to support software development and computational simulation in the following focus areas:

• Coastal Engineering and Hydrodynamics
• Machine Learning and Data Science
• Multi-hazard Regional Risk Assessment
• Socioeconomic Models and Recovery Simulation

The Computational Modeling and Simulation Center (SimCenter) is part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) funded by the National Science Foundation. The SimCenter’s team of researchers is headquartered at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and collaborates with faculty and research groups from more than a dozen universities across the country.

Initial appointments will be for one year with the possibility of renewal up to September 30, 2025. Successful applicants will join the SimCenter team either at the Richmond Field Station at UC Berkeley or at the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford University. Application reviews will begin on December 19, 2022. For more information about the positions and how to apply, view the job posting here (PDF).

ImageCat Seeks Professional Engineer

ImageCat, Inc., a global company specializing in the assessment of risk from natural disasters, is seeking an experienced Civil Engineer or Structural Engineer for structural evaluations, seismic risk assessment studies and seismic damage modeling. 

The applicant should be a Professional Engineer (P.E. — Civil or Structural) with 5+ years of experience in seismic risk assessment, and familiarity with “PML” standards ASTM E 2026, E 2557 and ASCE 41, as well as 5+ years in structural design of commercial, office and/or multi-family residential buildings for earthquake and other loads.

For more information on the requirements and how to apply, view the job posting here.

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Subscribing Member Spotlight

Nabih Youssef & Associates

Nabih Youssef & Associates provides specialized structural and earthquake engineering consulting. NYA has engineered high-rise buildings, medical centers, educational & athletic facilities, and has conducted seismic evaluations, historical preservations and strengthening of major landmark structures. It has offices in offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine and South Carolina.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP is one of the largest and most influential architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world. SOM is responsible for some of the world’s most technically and environmentally advanced buildings, and significant public spaces. 

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News of the Profession

Links to Recent News and Views

• Lake Taupō quake tsunami destroys boats, damages foreshore; hundreds of aftershocks following 5.6 tremor (NZ Herald)
• What Made Indonesia’s Recent Earthquake So Deadly? (Smithsonian Magazine)
• Indonesia earthquake: school safety questioned as army joins rescue effort (The Guardian)
• Indonesia needs earthquake-proof houses. Building them is a huge challenge (CNN)
• Strong earthquake rocks western Turkey near Duzce (BBC)
• Texas oil and gas agency investigating 5.4 magnitude earthquake in West Texas, the largest in three decades (Texas Tribune)

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