Under the leadership of Dr. Laurentiu Danciu and Dr. Philippe Roth, this group designs and implements seismic hazard and risk models at various scales, from site-specific to national and regional. It technically implements the components and models and handles the computational aspects. The group has played a key role in the development of Switzerland’s national seismic hazard model (SUIhaz15) and the earthquake risk model (ERM-CH23), which offer valuable insights for decision-makers, engineers, and the public. On a larger scale, they lead efforts in developing European seismic hazard models, such as ESHM20, and the earthquake models of the Middle East (i.e. EMME14). The group collaborates with various stakeholders and entities on natural and anthropogenic earthquake hazards and risk assessments, including insurance and reinsurance companies, engineering offices, and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
The group hosts the secretary and web presence of the European Facilities for Earthquake Hazard and Risk (EFEHR, www.efehr.org), providing access to national and regional hazard models. The group also plays an active role in developing earthquake rapid impact assessment tools and operational services to support mitigation actions in Switzerland. In addition, it represents Switzerland on behave of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SBFI) within the GEM Foundation in Pavia (Italy) and contributes to the Global Earthquake Model and development of the OpenQuake software.