A Cornell expert on the effect of earthquakes on buildings and infrastructure has urged Congress to continue and expand funding for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), because the nation "faces serious earthquake risk."

Provided

Thomas O'Rourke testifies on earthquake hazards in Washington, D.C.

In testimony June 11 before the Subcommittee on Technology Innovation of the House Committee on Science, Thomas D. O'Rourke, the Thomas R. Briggs Professor of Engineering, said that earthquake risk is growing because population density is increasing and new construction is expanding in locations affected by earthquakes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) projects annual losses of more than $6 billion a year from expected earthquake events in 45 states and territories, along with tens of thousands of casualties, he reported.

NEHRP, which involves the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and FEMA, supports research and policy aimed at reducing the impact of seismic events on buildings and infrastructure. Its work is particularly vital today, O'Rourke said, because of the poor condition of our infrastructure. The billions in new infrastructure to be created under the federal stimulus plan will be more secure thanks to work already done by NEHRP, he said. Construction standards and public policy developed by NEHRP also spill over to help protect against wildfires, flood and wind as well as against human threats and accidents, he added.

Citing recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction, a group of 16 outside experts -- including O'Rourke -- convened under the previous reauthorization of NEHRP, O'Rourke urged that the following recommendations be incorporated in the new reauthorization:

• Provide NIST, the lead agency of NEHRP, with more support for its coordinating activities. In 2008 it received only 12.8 percent of the funds authorized, O'Rourke reported.
• Increase funding through FEMA to state earthquake program managers in high-risk states.
• Accelerate the completion of the Advanced National Seismic System for earthquake monitoring, now at only 15 percent of its planned capacity.
• Increase support for the NSF-funded George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), a network of 15 laboratories, because of its potential to advance technologies for critical civil infrastructure.
• Increase support for research into ways to motivate society to prepare for earthquakes.
• Restore discontinued research into the effects of earthquakes on such "lifeline systems" as the electric grid and water and gas pipelines.
• Increase support for Performance Based Seismic Design, which calls for an examination of projected risks in any new building or upgrade.
• Identify and remove or upgrade thousands of buildings made of inadequately reinforced concrete.
• Support the research and outreach plan developed by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute to achieve national resiliency against earthquake over a 20-year period.

Overall, O'Rourke concluded, funding for NEHRP has been flat or below inflation levels for the last 30 years. The program now receives only 64 percent of its authorized funding, and support should be at least consistent with authorized levels, he said.

O'Rourke conducts research on earthquake engineering; underground construction technology; and engineering of large, geographically distributed networks such as water, gas and liquid fuel, electric power, and transportation systems. He has authored or co-authored over 335 publications. He is co-principal investigator for the Cornell Large-Scale Lifelines Testing Facility, a NEES laboratory with machinery that can move tons of earth to simulate the effects of ground deformation on structures.