The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is a leading technical society in dissemination of earthquake risk and
earthquake engineering research both in the U.S. and globally. EERI members include researchers, geologists, geotechnical engineers, educators, government officials, and building code regulators.
[EERI, ''Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Strategic Plan 2006-2010'', 2006.](_blank)
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History
The EERI was formed in 1948 as an advising committee of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ( USC&GS; known as the Survey of the Coast from 1807 to 1836, and as the United States Coast Survey from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the Federal government of the United State ...
. It quickly became its own independent, nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
, with the purpose of studying why buildings fail under earthquake disasters, and what methods can prevent these failures. At first they conducted their research in laboratories of different University or Government groups. As the EERI grew, they began to more often send research funds to the Universities, and have the university conduct the research. EERI focused more on identifying and investigating areas in need of research, and policymaking based on the university's lab results.
In 1952 the EERI organized the first conference on earthquake engineering (Symposium on Earthquake and Blast Effects on Structures), at UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. In 1956, in observation of the 50th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
, they held the first World Conference on Earthquake Engineering at University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. In 1984, the 8th World Conference was held in San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. This conference brought in scientists from 54 countries.
At first, membership to the EERI was limited to invite-only engineers and scientists. In 1973, they began to select members by application, and increased their membership from 126 to 721 by 1978. In 1991, EERI began receiving funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
(FEMA), to continue publishing information on how to reduce damage from earthquakes.
After a number of location changes, the EERI headquarters settled in Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
Their quarterly journal
''Earthquake Spectra''
covers current research on earthquake engineering and is available online or by subscription. Its target audience is any geologist, seismologist, or related engineer. EERI also publishes many other types of information, including a monthly newsletter, th
Connections
oral history series, and field investigation reports.
California earthquake assessments
EERI performs risk assessments on earthquake potential sites around the world. This is a quick summary of two reports on California cities.
In 2006 an engineering firm related to the EERI has projected over $122 billion in damage, if a repeat of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
occurs. This number includes damage to homes and structures, excluding fire damage.[Johnson, Alex. ''"Bay Area far from ready for the next ‘Big One’."''](_blank)
/ref> The EERI lobbies for government funding to prevent natural disasters. The money is best spent before loss of life and large-scale structural damage, though often it is not seen until afterward, as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
. The EERI and the USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...
have identified that a potential large earthquake in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
would cause more damage than Katrina at New Orleans, with up to $250 billion in total damage and 18,000 deaths.
Student involvement
EERI has a student chapter in 29 colleges across the U.S. to further promote interest in earthquake engineering. A few representatives from each chapter make up the Student Leadership Council (SLC).
PEER
. In this competition a team of undergraduate college students must design and construct a structure made of balsa wood. The structure is limited by many rules, such as a weight limit, the individual heights of each floor, total height limit, and more. The structure is subjected to extra weight and placed on a shake table, which moves to simulate an earthquake. An accelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...
is placed on top of the building to measure how fast the top of the building shakes. Students' structures are judged on a number of criteria, including the height of the structure, number of floors, the accelerometer readings, and whether the structure breaks. Students will want to make a building close to the height limit because the higher floors are worth more points. The annual competition is typically held along with the EERI annual meeting.
References
External links
EERI's WebsiteEERI Student Leadership Council's WebsiteEarthquake Spectra's Website
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Engineering research institutes
Earthquake engineering