Earthquake Risk Mitigation: Strategies and Policy Perspectives

Abstract

Mitigating the hazard of earthquakes represents a unique challenge in coping with uncertainty. While earthquakes cannot be prevented, the consequences of earthquakes in terms of loss of lives and destruction to property and communities can be substantially reduced. Yet, given the uncertainties of when earthquakes will occur and where, as well as the long, intermittent time periods between earthquakes, strategies for managing seismic hazards have varied in intensity and rigor in different nations exposed to seismic risk. At least 36 nations are exposed to high seismic risk which crosses international borders, making mitigation of earthquake hazards a global policy problem. Further, while earthquakes occur infrequently in any given location, more than 100 earthquakes between magnitude 6.0 and 6.9 and more than 15 earthquakes over magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale typically occur ...