Hospital Preparedness and Disaster Training

India, Global

A manual and intensive training program for staff to back up utility systems, anchor objects, practice response, and prepare their hospitals to function through disasters.

Mason Training on Earthquake-Resistant Construction

Dadeldhura, Nepal

Mansons trained hands-on to build bearing walls and reinforced concrete frames, applying Nepal’s building code that addresses reinforcement in simpler buildings.

Implementing Aizawl's Landslide Action Plan

India

Local engineers, geologists, and professors learned in intensive field courses how to assess hazard risk, apply safe development regulations and map hazards, and reduce landslide risk.

Infrastructure Knowledge Exchange

Aizawl, Mizoram and Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

Professionals in India and the United States shared best practices on seismic risk management and planning for municipal water utilities, focusing on hill cities with high earthquake hazard.

Designing a Tsunami Evacuation Park

Indonesia

Designed an innovative tsunami refuge in walking distance of dense neighborhoods where people do not have easy access to natural high ground. The elevated mound houses a park for daily use.

Increasing Resilience to Earthquakes and Landslides in Shaanxi Province

China

Created a disaster scenario that vividly depicts likely casualties, damages, and actions to reduce risk. Chinese partners learned to develop this tool for public awareness and risk-informed planning.

Global Earthquake Safety Initiative

Global

Technical information about likely lethality of earthquakes in 21 cities-- including vulnerable aspects of the built environment, schools and hospitals--to help the cities prioritize risk mitigation efforts.

Review and Field Test of the Global Hospital Safety Index

Solomon Islands, Nepal

Technical review and field testing of a World Health Organization (WHO) tool to screen hospitals’ vulnerabilities to multiple hazards as well as their level of emergency and disaster preparedness.

Hospital Disaster Planning, Preparedness and Training

Bhutan

Emergency planning and realistic disaster simulations for staff at hospitals in Bhutan, plus mitigations to keep the facilities functioning post disaster.

Framed Infill Network

Global

Global researchers, engineers, architects, builders and officials developed new design guidance to improve seismic behavior of concrete frames with masonry infill walls, a common building type.

Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of Urban Areas (RADIUS)

Ecuador, Mexico, Chile

Earthquake scenarios and action plans provide city-specific objectives for disaster preparedness and mitigation, and were developed with government, science, business and academic sectors.

Kathmandu Hospital Pre and Post Earthquake Assessments Compared

Kathmandu, Nepal

Two Kathmandu hospitals had been assessed for disaster preparedness just before the 2015 M7.8 Gorkha earthquake. Pre- and post-earthquake findings are compared.

Vertical Evacuation Structures for Tsunamis

Padang, Indonesia

Studied the feasibility of vertical evacuation solutions in Padang for safety during tsunamis. This could save lives in coastal cities where high ground does not exist or people do not have time to evacuate.

Quito Earthquake Risk Management Plan

Quito, Ecuador

Scientists, engineers and planners together developed a likely scenario of earthquake impact to Quito, and based on this local leaders planned programs to mitigate that risk.

Tsunami Preparedness Guidebook

Global

Developed a road map for people who want to organize, educate, and lead local tsunami preparedness campaigns. Includes earth science, social science and emergency planning.

Kathmandu Priority Hospitals Seismic Assessment

Kathmandu, Nepal

Prioritized short and long-term changes to improve post-disaster function of hospitals that provide critical medical services for a large number of people.

Reducing Extreme Landslide and Seismic Risk in Aizawl

Aizawl, India

A detailed scenario process engaged leaders and technical professionals in India’s most populous hill city to understand, assess and mitigate Aizawl’s very high risk of landslides and earthquakes.

Urban Earthquake Risk Management in Central Asia and Caucasus

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

International technical experts and regional policymakers in central asia developed strategies to manage very high seismic risk in capital cities of five new countries, formerly part of the USSR..

Safety Measures for Landsliding in Kerala

India

Investigations of still dangerous slopes in Idukki, where 2018 landslides damaged thousands of homes. Partnered with Kerala University, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), local officials.

Supporting Thimphu’s Path to Safer Buildings

Bhutan

Using models to identify and quantify building damage from two likely earthquakes affecting the capital city, the scenarios will inform land use planning and building codes to reduce risk.

Rapid Diagnostic of School Infrastructure

Haiti

Findings about schools' vulnerability to natural hazards, climate change, and infrastructure deficiencies will inform plans to make schools safer and more resilient.

Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Beneficiary Needs

Global

A study of earthquake risk reduction activities, needs, and barriers, to help guide GEM’s future tool and resource development for users who are not risk assessment experts.

Ludlow Castle School Retrofit

New Delhi, India

Delhi is located in a high seismic hazard zone, and thousands of school buildings are vulnerable to severe damage in an earthquake. We guided the seismic retrofit at a large school in the Delhi region, as part of a project to improve earthquake preparedness in the nation’s capital.

Timoun an Aksyon (Kids in Action)

Cap-Haitien, Haiti

In their own voice and style, youth share new knowledge about extreme earthquake and coastal risks and how to take action for disaster resilience.

Family Preparedness for Earthquakes

Haiti, Dominican Republic

Promoted preparedness steps specific to where people live, and in plain language explained the science behind local risk. Outreach in Kreyol, French, Spanish, and English.

School Seismic Vulnerability Assessments

Amargadhi, Nepal

Findings indicate the extent of risk to schoolchildren in the typical school building types found in a fast-growing municipality in far west Nepal.

Safest Action During an Earthquake

Global, Haiti

A person’s immediate action when an earthquake begins makes a difference in safety. This evidence-based guidance emphasizes protective action for the local context.

Producing Affordable Earthquake Desks

Bhutan

Locally made Earthquake Desks are affordable, withstand heavy loads, and provide safer cover in schools that are not yet earthquake resistant.

Disaster Scenarios for Risk-Informed Planning

West Nepal

Scenarios of a plausible earthquake quantify impacts, including more than 50% of schools damaged, and guide communities to reduce extreme risk before a disaster.

Mentoring Women in Engineering and Geology

Aizawl, India

A screening study of earthquake vulnerabilities and landslide hazards in Aizawl schools showed widespread risks to students, particularly from landslides and in seismically vulnerable private schools.

Students with Visual Impairments Prepare for Disasters

Bhutan

A disaster preparedness plan and drills tailored for students with visual impairments, so they practice how to respond safely during and after emergencies.

Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management

Nepal

One objective was to quantify and plan how to mitigate the high vulnerability of public schools. This led to hands-on training and seismic retrofit of many schools.

Bhutan National School Earthquake Safety Day

Bhutan

An annual learning event and simultaneous national school drill for all schools in Bhutan, which lies in a high seismic zone.

National Action Plans for School and Hospital Earthquake Safety

India, Bhutan

These consensus-based action plans, which include ways to prepare for and reduce risk in schools and health facilities, were adopted into national policy.

Seismic Retrofit of Key Delhi Buildings

Delhi, India

Engineers gained on-the-job experience to design and install retrofit solutions for a large school, which cost less than to rebuild and became a model.