This program addressed the resilience challenges of water supply systems located in steep terrain, specifically in two India hill cities: Aizawl in Mizoram, and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh.

The projects described below occurred before the March 28, 2025 M7.7 earthquake in Myanmar. These efforts highlight the importance of identifying and addressing risks before disasters occur in order to save lives and protect communities.

Developed university earthquake engineering curriculum and supported strengthening of graduate program; advanced structural analysis capacity and extensively mentored practicing engineers.

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

Created seismic retrofit designs for typical building types using local materials and construction techniques, and strengthened representative schools.

A series of earthquakes and hurricanes since 2008 have caused significant damage to Haiti’s school infrastructure and completely destroyed numerous schools. This project for the World Bank developed a better picture of the risk factors and challenges across the country. Our team’s findings and recommendations will help the Government of Haiti to prioritize measures for improving school facilities and the safety of students.

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.

An effort to develop seismic strengthening and protect contents for a key building, raise awareness, and prepare schools in the city that is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.

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.

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.

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

This study found significant earthquake vulnerability in Gujarat public school buildings and recommended steps to reduce and mitigate the risk.

GeoHazards International brought together international, national and state-level experts to conduct a BRCA focused on the Government of Kerala’s vision for climate and disaster resilience, energy conservation, and green buildings.

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.

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

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.

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.

This program developed practice in Bhutan to identify the structural vulnerabilities of local buildings before an earthquake occurs, which can inform risk mitigation, and developed detailed guidance for life-safety evaluations of local buildings after an earthquake, which can help the country manage efficient recovery.

This project, completed in 2023, aimed to address the seismic vulnerability of Guwahati’s power infrastructure, given the city’s high earthquake risk due to its location in a seismically active zone, challenging topography, and large stock of unsafe buildings. As a critical hub for emergency response across Assam and the Northeast, Guwahati required a resilient power network to ensure continuity of essential services in the aftermath of a major earthquake.

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.

Nepal is located in one of the most seismically active areas in the world. Based on government and GeoHazards International (GHI) data, a vast number of school buildings are highly vulnerable to heavy damage or collapse. No child should have to risk their lives to get an education.

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

A comprehensive three-day training program on the application of a customized WHO Hospital Safety Index (HSI) tool was conducted in Kathmandu, Nepal, from December 9-11, 2024. The event, organized by Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population in collaboration with its health emergency units, WHO (both country and regional offices), and partners including GeoHazards International (GHI) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), aimed to enhance the resilience of the country's healthcare facilities against various hazards.

Westernmost Nepal, is threatened by a major earthquake that most of its buildings, including most schools, have not been designed or built to withstand. This places schoolchildren at great risk, and common school construction practices need to be made safer.

Geologic hazards scenarios provide an excellent mechanism for thinking through complex problems in advance of earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

By showing specific consequences–to people, buildings, infrastructure, and land–a scenario approach makes technical information understandable. People can envision what could happen in their own community, and they can make informed decisions to limit potential harm and damage.

Our research shows that scenarios can strongly motivate communities to implement long-term risk mitigation actions. But there is room for improvement in the way scenarios are developed, particularly in low-resource international contexts. Our research considered: How could scenarios be improved to motivate mitigation actions and policy change? Too often, past geologic hazard scenarios stopped at characterizing the risk and did not link these findings to policy and implementation pathways.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti’s southern peninsula in August 2021, causing extensive building failures that killed thousands.

An undergraduate internship included real world field study and a research report, which aligned with their studies and prepared them to apply for graduate school and pursue professional careers.

Nepal is located in one of the most seismically active areas in the world. Based on government and GeoHazards International (GHI) data, a vast number of school buildings are highly vulnerable to heavy damage or collapse during earthquake shaking. No child should have to risk their lives to get an education.

GHI is supporting Nepal in improving school safety, through longer-term solutions like constructing safer, new schools and strengthening existing vulnerable buildings. However, at the current rate of schools being replaced or strengthened, it will take close to 200 years to make all school buildings safe. In the meantime, there are many children who remain at high risk from their school buildings collapsing or experiencing heavy damage during earthquakes.

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.

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.

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.

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.