News of the Institute

Join the 13NCEE Organizing and Technical Program Committees!

EERI is looking for members who are interested in serving on the Thirteenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (13NCEE) Organizing and Technical Program Committees! Being a part of an event Organizing or Program Committee is an exciting, unique opportunity to connect, learn, and lead all at the same time.

Held once every four years, the U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (13NCEE) is a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to share the latest knowledge and techniques to understand and mitigate the damaging effects of earthquakes and tsunamis. You can be a part of leading the program design, developing fun special events, coordinating a rich exhibit filled with incredible sponsors, and much more!

The 13NCEE Organizing and Technical Program Committees needs a full and diverse range of EERI member volunteers, from emerging leaders to experienced professionals, to fill many different roles. We have designed the committee structure to contain many specific leadership positions that provide extensive opportunities for networking and visibility.

To express your interest in joining:

1. Read about all the positions available, including the different committes, roles, and the anticipated time commitment for volunteers.
2. Fill out the interest form here.

Please submit your interest by Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Selected volunteers will be contacted on a rolling basis beginning fall 2024.

Thank you in advance for helping us design a 13NCEE experience and comprehensive program that will facilitate synergy between earthquake scientists, engineers, and policy professionals from the United States and around the world. We can’t wait to see everyone in Portland, Oregon in July 2026!

EERI Plenary Lectures From WCEE2024

Don't miss the great plenary lectures from EERI members at the recent 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE2024), held from June 30 to July 5, 2024, in Milan, Italy! The recordings and other highlights from the world conference can be viewed on the WCEE YouTube account here. See below for links to individual lectures:

• Ashraf Habibullah: Engineering is About People! An Introduction to Human Engineering
• Michael Olsen: Geospatial Technology Saving the World’s Past Present and Future from Natural Hazards
• Helen Crowley: Why Seismic Hazard Modelling Has Become a Risky Business
• Jack P. Moehle: Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering: A Chronicle in Five Easy Pieces
• Dimitrios Vamvatsikos: Criteria for Selecting Intensity Measures in Seismic Risk Assessment
• Judith Mitrani-Reiser: Taking Measure: How Earthquake Reconnaissance Has Evolved Over Fifty Years
• Julian J. Bommer: Seismic Hazard Assessment for Natural and Induced Earthquake
• Ellen M. Rathje: Regional-Scale Seismic Landslide Assessments for Distributed Infrastructure Systems
• Steve Kramer: The Evolution of Performance-Based Design in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering

Don’t Forget to Apply to Participate in the YMC Lightning Talk Seminar!

Are you a YMC member interested in participating in the YMC Lightning Talk Seminar? This is a reminder to apply by Sunday, August 11, 2024 if you would like to speak or attend this event!

This seminar for the EERI Younger Members Committee (YMC) will take place on Tuesday, September 10 at 11:00 AM PST on Zoom. All YMC members are invited to attend and present a "lightning talk" (that will be approximately 3-5 minutes) to the group.

The content of your talk can be your earthquake related research or interesting projects in the earthquake engineering industry/practice. This is an opportunity to both share the work you are passionate about and become exposed to others with the intention of increasing collaboration and discussion on technical topics within our community. Additionally, we hope to be able to give each other constructive feedback on these presentations, making it a valuable experience to sharpen your communication skills and get help on technical issues you may be struggling with in your work and research.

Even if you do not have a topic to present, please sign up to attend so that you can observe the variety of research topics and private practice in our group and give valuable feedback to those who are presenting. Click here to submit the short application! Please be sure you are available on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time before applying.

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Regional Chapters

2024 Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering

EERI’s San Diego Regional Chapter will host the 6th annual Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering at the University of California, San Diego on September 12-13, 2024.

The full-day colloquium will take place on Thursday, September 12, with two sessions: “Punctuated Resilience, Climate Change, and Bio-Geotechnics,” (featuring speakers Christopher Wills, Thomas O’Rourke, J. Carlos Santamarina, and Alejandro Martinez) and “Next-Generation Liquefaction Modeling of Liquefaction Triggering and Surface Manifestation (featuring speakers Steve Kramer, Jonathan Stewart, Scott Brandenberg, Ken Hudson, and Kristin Ulmer). View the colloquium schedule here and speaker abstracts here.

On Friday, September 13, the series will continue with a three-quarter-day short course on “USGS Software Tools for Site-Specific Ground Motion Hazard Analysis” from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM. The course will provide an update of the 2023 USGS National Seismic Hazard Map and USGS ToolBox for ground motions, led by Nicolas Luco and Peter Powers from USGS and Jorge F. Meneses from Worley Consulting and the San Diego Chapter). View more information about the Friday course here.

Participants may register separately for the Thursday colloquium and the Friday short course. Register here soon for early-bird rates—prices will increase after August 30, 2024! 

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Public Policy and Advocacy

EERI Supports NEHRP Reauthorization Act of 2024 Movement in Congress

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) was established in 1977 to address seismic risk and create more seismically resilient communities in the United States. NEHRP requires reauthorization as an act of Congress. A reauthorization bill charges each NEHRP agency with authorities, allowable activities, and authorized funding amounts. NEHRP was last reauthorized in 2018 with significant advocacy by Chris Poland, Chair of EERI’s Public Policy & Advocacy Committee at the time.

NEHRP Reauthorization is important when new funding levels are desired and updates to the agencies’ mandates are needed. Failing to reauthorize NEHRP upon its expiration also carries some risk that Congress could reduce funding to the four key agencies that implement the program: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In light of the importance of this critical national program, EERI’s PPA Chair Anna Lang and other committee members have been in close coordination with several Senators to promote and advance a new reauthorization bill. This bill, S.3606, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Reauthorization Act of 2024, was originally started by the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, then introduced by Senator Alex Padilla and co-sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski, Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, and Jon Tester.

EERI submitted a formal letter of support for S.3606 to Chair Maria Cantwell and Ranking Member Ted Cruz of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. You can view this letter in the EERI Legislative Action Center here. 

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation met on July 31, 2024, and with the support of EERI, the committee passed bill S.3606 as amended by Senator Tester with no debate. Senator Jon Tester played an essential role by championing the bill through the Senate Commerce Committee, allowing it to pass to the next step – a full Senate vote on the Senate Floor in the coming weeks.

EERI members interested in continuing to follow and promote this important legislation are encouraged to join the PPA Committee. Visit the PPA page here or email policy@eeri.org to be added to the list and receive an invite to attend their next committee meeting.

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Webinars

Earthquake Spectra Showcase: August 2024 Issue

Wednesday, August 28, 2024
1:00 - 2:00 PM Pacific Time
REGISTER HERE

Join us for the latest in this EERI webinar series showcasing papers of interest from each new issue of Earthquake Spectra! This webinar will feature two papers from the August 2024 issue—the Editor's Choice selection "Regional-Scale Fault-to-Structure Earthquake Simulations with the EQSIM Framework: Workflow Maturation and Computational Performance on GPU-accelerated Exascale Platforms," and the research paper "Seismic Design of Concrete Structures for Damage Control."

Lead authors David McCallen (M.EERI 1990) and Eyitayo Opabola (M.EERI 2020) will present the papers and respond to questions from participants, and Spectra Associate Editor Carlos Molina Hutt (M.EERI 2011) will moderate the webinar.

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Subscribing Member Spotlight

Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP

Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP provides structural engineering and building envelope consulting for construction and restoration projects. These projects include tall office and residential towers, theaters, housing, educational buildings, sports facilities, sculptures, landmarks, and special structures. Founded in 1991, GMS is headquartered in New York City, with offices in New Jersey and Los Angeles, California. 

Rutherford + Chekene

Established in 1960, Rutherford + Chekene provides new design, advanced structural analysis, seismic evaluations and retrofits, peer review and plan review, and full geotechnical services. R+C provides services in multiple sectors, including healthcare, higher education, corporate, research and development, art and education, and technology.

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News of the Profession

Links to Recent News and Views

• A staggering 103 earthquakes hit West Texas in 8 days. Is oil drilling to blame? (Austin American-Statesman)
• Southern Utah earthquake a sign of more to come? Seismologists, public safety officials weigh in (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Magnitude 4.9 earthquake shakes Southern California (Los Angeles Times, quoting EERI member Lucy Jones)
• China establishes world's largest quake early warning network (China Global Television Network)
• Over 20,000 Vancouver secondary students in schools that could collapse in earthquake: Report (Vancouver Sun)
• Powerful 7.4-magnitude quake strikes north Chile near Argentine border. No reports of major damage (ABC/Associated Press)
• Rebuilt Monastery, Aided by Beer Sales, Gives Hope to a Quake-Struck Region (The New York Times)

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