"cogito Prize 2014" for the Reassessment of the Basel Earthquake of 1356

Every two years, the cogito foundation awards a prize of CHF 50,000 to researchers who are engaged in successful, interdisciplinary projects. This year, the cogito Prize is being awarded to Donat Fäh, a professor at the Swiss Seismological Service (SED). Together with a team of historians, archaeologists, civil engineers, seismologists, and geologists, he reassessed the Basel earthquake of 1356. The research was performed in the context of the local seismic hazard analysis for the Basel region, the results of which were then converted into a microzonation.

At the public award ceremony on September 26, 2014, Donat Fäh presented his award-winning project Die Erdbebenkatastrophe 1356 in Basel – eine Beurteilung im Kontext der regionalen seismischen Gefährdung (The 1356 Basel Earthquake Catastrophe – An Assessment in the Context of the Regional Seismic Hazard).