There is no quick fix to strengthen communities in the face of disasters. Resilience requires people working on many levels - local people who are best placed to lead and implement change. But technical challenges, limited resources, and competing priorities present obstacles to moving forward.
That’s why we invest in training and mentoring across the community spectrum. With new knowledge and capacities to build resilience, these pathfinders will steer lasting impact in their communities. We aim for this:
Officials apply risk-informed land use and building regulations.
Engineers strengthen weak buildings and design safer structures.
Universities cultivate experts and advance their technical capabilities.
Medical staff prepare hospitals to function despite disasters.
Educators teach students how to stay safe and plan for education continuity.
Geologists advise and oversee safety measures to control landslides and floods.
Construction workers build using disaster-resilient methods.
“My original career plan was to get a Master Degree and leave home for work in an oil company to earn money for my family. But now I don’t want to leave at all because people here need to be aware of how landslides happen. It is really important. And I can help.”
Christopher Lalthazuala
Geology Ph.D. Student in Aizawl, India, who attended intensive Geology Field School organized by GeoHazards International
School Seismic Vulnerability Assessments
Findings indicate the extent of risk to schoolchildren in the typical school building types found in a fast-growing municipality in far west Nepal.
Bhutan National School Earthquake Safety Day
An annual learning event and simultaneous national school drill for all schools in Bhutan, which lies in a high seismic zone.
Seismic Retrofit of Key Delhi Buildings
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.
Producing Affordable Earthquake Desks
Locally made Earthquake Desks are affordable, withstand heavy loads, and provide safer cover in schools that are not yet earthquake resistant.
Quito Earthquake Risk Management Plan
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.
“The media got wind of this technology (earthquake safe construction). People wanted trained masons to build for them. So they would come to my house to offer me work.”
Bal Krishna Kasula
Head Mason on Nepal’s first retrofitted school
“Availability of the top-notch experts-the best in their fields- in GHIs team is very valuable. And these experts are always willing to educate new entrants in the field.”
Anil Pandit
retrofit contractor, Delhi, India
Documentation of Traditional Housing Typologies in India in High Seismic Areas
2009-2010 - GeoHazards Society, with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH), studied whether the traditional housing typologies used by the community in high seismic prone areas are strong enough to resist the anticipated intensity of earthquakes in the region.
Seismic Safety for Adobe Homes: What Everyone Should Know
Adobe is brittle and weak and vulnerable to earthquake damage. Techniques described are intended to 1) reduce damage to adobe homes in small and medium earthquakes, and 2) help reduce collapse of adobe homes in earthquakes. They MAY NOT PREVENT COLLAPSE in a strong earthquake.
Recources:
Seismic Safety for Adobe Homes
Background Papers and Supplementary Technical Information: Guidance on Developing Messages for Protective Actions to Take During Earthquake Shaking
1. Epidemiology of Deaths and Earthquake Injuries, 2. Protective Action in Immediate Fuse Events: a Literature Review, 3. Designing Risk Communication Programs to Promote Adaptive Human Behavior During Earthquakes and Tsunamis, 4. On the Nature of Strong Ground Motions during Damaging Earthquakes, 5. Understanding and Mitigating Building Collapses, 6. Public perceptions of protective action, survey in three countries, 7. Summary of discussions with an international group of disaster messaging professionals
Resources:
Background Papers and Supplementary Technical Information
Protective Actions Implementation Workbook
Guidance on Developing Messages for Protective Actions to Take During Earthquake Shaking
What people should do during earthquake shaking, to protect themselves from injury or death? It depends. Evidence-based guidance describes a process and key considerations for creating effective messages for different contexts.
Preparing Your Community for Tsunamis
Guides non-experts so that they can educate their communities and prepare for tsunamis, particularly in underserved communities around the world. Compiles the best available earth science, social science, and emergency preparedness information.
Field Manual: Post-Earthquake Safety Assessment for Buildings, ATC-20-1 Bhutan
Royal Government of Bhutan, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, The World Bank; Applied Technology Council Endowment Fund. A detailed reference for engineers to use after an earthquake occurs, when they must evaluate thousands of buildings and determine whether these are safe to occupy. Features damages common to masonry and rammed-earth building types in Bhutan.
Conceptual Seismic Design Guidance for New Framed Infill Buildings
Keeping Schools Safe in Earthquakes
A process for nations to develop an effective school earthquake safety program, prepared for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Non-structural Risk Reduction Handbook for Schools
Reducing Earthquake Risks in Hospitals from Equipment, Contents, Architectural Elements and Building Utility Systems
Shows how to equip hospitals to function in a disaster: plan for backup utilities, find and mitigate vulnerabilities in the buildings, and secure objects that could topple and cause injuries in an earthquake. Intended for hospital administrators, engineers, and maintenance staff.
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