LFE at 50: Impacts of Earthquake Reconnaissance Past, Present, and Future
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the EERI Learning from Earthquakes (LFE) Program, the one-day Technical Program on April 12 will underscore major achievements in seismic safety around the world that were only possible because of observations made and data captured through reconnaissance efforts over the past 50 years.The 2023AM Program Committee is led by Co-Chairs Laurie Johnson and Jonathan Stewart. Below is an overview of the program.
Note: Registration for the technical program also includes access to the Welcome Reception and Turkey/Syria Earthquake Sequence Special Session on Tuesday evening.
Registration & Breakfast
Time: 7:45 - 8:30 AM
Location: Registration in the Cyril Magnin Foyer (level 4), Breakfast in front of the Market Street Room (level 3)
Welcome
Time: 8:30 - 9:00 AM
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
- Janiele Maffei, Incoming EERI President
Major Contributions of Earthquake Reconnaissance
Time: 9:00 - 10:45 AM
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
Moderator: Laurie Johnson, Laurie Johnson Consulting
In this session, a series of mini-keynote speakers will provide an overview of how findings from earthquake reconnaissance were key in advancements in research, practice, and policy. Topics and speakers include:
- Geoscience Impacts: Keith Kelson, US Army Corps of Engineers
- Geotechnical Engineering Impacts: Jonathan Bray, University of California at Berkeley
- Structural Engineering Impacts: William Holmes, Rutherford + Chekene (retired)
- Lifelines Impacts: Thomas ORourke, Cornell University
- Societal Impacts: Kathleen Tierney, Natural Hazards Center (emerita)
- Public Policy Impacts: Mary Comerio, University of California at Berkeley (emerita)
Personal Testimonials from Major Earthquakes
- 1995 Kobe Earthquake, Craig Comartin, CDComartin, Inc
- 1988 Armenia Earthquake, Tom Tobin, Tobin & Associates
- 1985 Mexico City Earthquake, Eduardo Miranda, Stanford University
-
2011 Christchurch Earthquake and 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake, Anne Hulsey, University of Auckland
Coffee Break
Time: 10:45 - 11:15 AM
Location: Cyril Magnin Foyer
2023 EERI Distinguished Lecture
Time: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
Taking Measure: How Earthquake Reconnaissance Has Evolved Over Fifty Years
Extreme events, such as tornadoes and fires, test buildings and infrastructure in ways and on a scale that cannot be easily replicated in a laboratory. Therefore, actual disasters and failure events provide important opportunities for scientists and engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and elsewhere to study these events, and improve the safety of buildings, their occupants, and emergency responders. The lecture will provide an overview of the disaster research conducted at NIST and informed by strategic plans developed by national disaster statutory programs: Disaster and Failure Studies (DFS) Program, National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP), and National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP). The lecture will highlight how the metrology of disasters has evolved since the Learning from Earthquakes (LFE) Program was established fifty years ago by the National Science Foundation, a NEHRP agency. The lecture will also provide an overview of how the advancement of tools (e.g., interview/survey instruments, GIS, data management, etc.) and technology (e.g., lidar, GPS, drones, etc.) in seismic reconnaissance missions has enabled scientists and engineers to better quantify the physical and social impacts of earthquakes on communities. The lecture will commemorate the multidisciplinary approach to learning from disasters, directly borne out of the LFE Program.
Judith Mitrani-Reiser, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Networking Lunch
Time: 12:15 - 1:45 PM
Location: in front of the Market Street Room, lunch tables located throughout level 3 rooms
EERI Lightning Showcase
Time: 12:45 - 1:30 PM
Location: Market Street Room
This lunchtime session will consist of a lightning session showcasing all open EERI Committees, Subcommittees, and partner organizations. Each group will have a few minutes to give a quick pitch about opportunities for EERI members to join and engage within their committee or organization.
Participating groups include:
- Earthquake Spectra Editorial Board
- LFE Business Resilience Survey Sub-Committee
- LFE Public Health Sub-Committee
- LFE VERT Sub-Committee
- Public Policy and Advocacy Committee
- Professional Development Committee
- School Earthquake Safety Initiative
- World Housing Encyclopedia
- Japan’s “E-Isolation”
2023 William B. Joyner Lecture
Time: 1:45 - 2:45 PM
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
Jack Baker, Stanford University
The amplitude of ground shaking during an earthquake varies spatially, due to location-to-location differences in source features, wave propagation, and site effects. These variations have important impacts on infrastructure systems and other distributed assets. This presentation will provide an overview of efforts to quantify spatial correlations in amplitudes, via observations from past earthquakes and numerical simulations. Regional risk analysis results will be presented to demonstrate the potential role of spatial correlations on impacts to the built environment. Traditional techniques for fitting empirical correlation models will be discussed, followed by a proposal for new techniques to account for soil conditions and other site-specific effects. Prospects for future opportunities in this field will also be addressed, including the role of numerical simulations and advanced risk assessment.
Coffee Break
Time: 2:45 - 3:15 PM
Location: Cyril Magnin Foyer
Optimizing Reconnaissance Impact and Panel Discussion
Time: 3:15 - 5:00 PM
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
Moderator: Jonathan Stewart, University of California at Los Angeles
In this session, a series of mini-keynote speakers will share their vision for how improved coordination and advancements data will optimize the impacts of earthquake reconnaissance. Topics and speakers include:
- Responding to Earthquakes: USGS and NEHRP: Keith Knudsen, United States Geological Service
- Realizing the Full Benefits of Reconnaissance through Data Publishing: Ellen Rathje, University of Texas at Austin
- Vision for the use of remote sensing data in reconnaissance: Eric Fielding, NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Vision for the Next 50 Years of LFE: Michael Mieler, ARUP
Panel Discussion: Opportunities to Contribute to Earthquake Reconnaissance
This panel discussion will showcase current opportunities to become involved in LFE earthquake reconnaissance efforts. Topics and speakers include:
- Virtual Reconnaissance: Erica Fischer, Oregon State University
- Resilience Reconnaissance: Rob Olshansky, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (emeritus)
- Functional Recovery, Ryan Kersting, Buehler Engineering
- Public Health Reconnaissance: Luis Ceferino, New York University
- Business Resilience Reconnaissance: Anne Wein, USGS
- LFE Travel Study Program: Thalia Anagnos, San Jose State University
EERI Honors and Awards Ceremony
Time: 5:00 - 5:45 PM
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
This session will showcase honorees of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, including T. Leslie Youd (Housner Medal), James O'Malley (Alquist Medal), Ian Buckle and Gregory L. Deierlein (Honorary Members), Gerard O'Reilly (Shah Prize), Dustin Cook and Diane Moug (Younger Member Awards), Lauren Vinnell (Spectra Outstanding Paper Award), and Ioanna Kavvada (Graduate Student Paper Prize).
Closing
Time: following Honors and Awards Ceremony
Location: Cyril Magnin Ballroom
Janiele Maffei, EERI President
The technical program will close with a vision for the next 50 years of the LFE Program, followed by a networking reception.
Networking & Awards Reception
Time: 5:45 - 7:00 PM
Location: Cyril Magnin Foyer, cash bar available
