”Loss of life and economic loss from earthquakes can only be mitigated or prevented through disaster risk reduction efforts that include urban planning, improved regulation through building codes and compliance with those codes. This requires sound technical information to support the financial investments and governance measures required to reduce risk in the long term.” 

She added: “GEM is used by many countries for their assessments at national scale and thereby makes a great contribution to achieving the targets for reducing disaster losses as set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Earthquake risk impacts mortality, the number of persons likely to be affected, economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure.”

There have been 747,000 fatalities from earthquakes and tsunamis over the last twenty years, according to statistics maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in its EM-DAT database.

GEM was established following an initiative of the Global Science Forum promoted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Its stated ambition is to become the world’s most complete source of risk resources and to set the globally accepted standard for seismic risk assessment by ensuring the availability of its products.

The award is named after Mr. Damir Čemerin, a founder member of the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction, who died in 2013 after long service in support of disaster risk reduction in his home country of Croatia as well as globally.

Date:

23 Nov 2018

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Themes:

Education & School Safety, Advocacy & Media, GIS & Mapping

Hazards:

Earthquake

Countries:

Italy

Regions:

Europe