EAFIT participated in the creation of this unique map that shows the seismic risk on a global scale, which allows a calculation of human and financial losses due to earthquakes to be made. “There are global threat maps representing the possibility of earthquakes, but they are not focused on the risks”, explains Ana Beatriz Acevedo Jaramillo, professor of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University.
In line with this approach, this
map shows several factors such as the risk (possibility of an earthquake), exposure (people and infrastructure exposed) and vulnerability (capacity of structures to resist seismic forces).
This project was presented on the 5th of December 2018 in Pavía (Italy). It is the result of the combined effort of several international institutions, led by GEM (Global Earthquake Model), the participation of professor Ana Beatriz and the support of Daniela González González, a PhD student of engineering at EAFIT, in the creation of the model for Colombia.
Daniela´s main contribution focused on the development of the exposure models of cities such as Medellín, Cali and Bogotá. These models describe the assets that are exposed in the cities, with regard to infrastructure and people´s location, in order to determine, for example, the amount of buildings that would be affected by the damage or how much money would be lost, among other topics.
“This is a great tool for governments and decision makers to create action plans and asset insurance, and it is also an indicator to start creating prevention and disaster management strategies”, states the student.
According to the professor, the information used to create the map is open to the public. This allows any person to use it to evaluate the seismic risk and can be very useful when making decisions to increase seismic resilience.
The data covers the three components that are necessary to evaluate risk, that is to say, a model for the seismic threat that shows how frequently and intense an earth-quake is in a given place; a second one for exposure, which deals with the people and infrastructure distribution in that place; another one for vulnerability, which shows the capacity of the structures to resist seismic forces.
“It is important to acknowledge that all the information that makes up the map (threat, exposure and risk models), as well as the program to make the analysis are free and are available to be used”, states Ana Beatriz. From her point of view, using this information to quantify the seismic risk so that decision makers are able to take actions to increase the seismic resilience of the affected communities is the single most important thing.
The Research
Ana Beatriz Acevedo has been a supporter for GEM Foundation in several projects, including the map, which was the result of 10 years of work. “We started working with South America Risk Assessment (Sara project), between 2013 and 2015. Later on, we continued working in this topic with Daniela González when she was a student of the master´s program and then a PhD student”, specifies the professor.
To follow this research, it was necessary to know the geological and seismic information to create the risk model, mentions the professor. Furthermore, the characteristics of all the buildings of those countries where it quakes were required for the exposure model. Finally, it was necessary to understand the behavior of each type of building when subjected to strong earthquakes.
According to Ana Beatriz Acevedo, GEM Foundation, a non-profit organization located in Italy, seeks to increase resiliency to earthquakes worldwide, in partnership with the public and private sectors and through the open dissemination of knowledge on seismic risk evaluation. GEM foundation also creates free-access products such as databases, etc., so that any person or entity can conduct a risk evaluation. EAFIT and GEM partnership began with the participation in the development of exposure and vulnerability models for Colombia, and last year they jointly conducted the event Evaluation of Seismic Risk and its Applications in Decision-making, among other activities that make up the collaborative agreement that began in 2017.
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Further information for journalists
Alejandro Gómez Valencia
EAFIT Information and Press Area
Telephone: 574 2619500 ext. 9931
Email: jgomez97@eafit.edu.co