“Hazards and Risk Assessment” with Klaus Jacob (Jan 2007)

by admin | Jul 27, 2023 | Natural Hazards

Klaus Jacob

Originally presented 20 Jan 2007

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and other “geo-hazards” have become much more familiar following the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands not long ago. LDEO scientists have long been in the forefront of studying these events after they occur, and helping local authorities to identify and plan in advance how to cope with potential disasters.

Our LDEO Scientist today is Special Research Scientist Dr. Klaus Jacob, who has long provided not only new insights about seismology, but has also served as adviser to government agencies involved in emergency preparedness. Klaus has previously spoken at several E2C programs, including the 1st NYS Earth Science Teachers Conference. Here is a link to his presentation about “Earthquakes in the Eastern US – Is New York at Risk, and What Can We Do about It ?”

At the 2006 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, five E2C participants joined Dr. Passow in attending the GIFT (Geophysical Information For Teachers) Workshop . This year’s theme was “Earthquakes and Tsunamis.” They will share some of the educational materials provided in the GIFT Workshop. We also hope to distribute educational resource materials available through the AGU Exhibits.

Introduction to this Workshop

Here is the introductory slide show presented by Dr. Passow.

Click on your preferred format: ppt or pdf

In addition, here is the link to the online resources from the GIFT (Geophysical Information for Teachers) Workshop about “Earthquakes and Tsunamis” presented at the American Geophysical Union 2006 Fall Meeting. These are from the IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) website, and should be available until December 2007.

This theme has been recurrent in E2C Workshops since we began, so here are links to some previous talks:

“How Predictable Are Natural Disasters?” (Jan 2000)

“Earthquakes and Other Hazards” (Nov 2000)

“Assessing Natural Hazards” (Nov 2001)

“Teaching about Hazards” (Nov 2002)

“Living with Earthquakes” (Oct 2003)

“Big Booms! Earthquakes and Volcanoes” (Nov 2004)

“Katrina & New Orleans: Hurricanes, Geology, Land Use, and Disaster. Where Do We Go from Here?” (Oct 2005)

“Big Booms! Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Part 2” (Mar 2006)

Cutting-Edge Research
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Today’s guest scientist, Dr. Klaus Jacob, has a long and distinguished career at Lamont going back more than 40 years! Klaus has served as adviser to many emergency response planning agencies, including NYC. You can view his presentation here (pdf).

Klaus also spoke on this theme at the 1st New York State Earth Science Teachers Conference, which was held at LDEO in 2004. Here is the link to his presentation on “Earthquakes in the Eastern US – Is New York at Risk, and What Can We Do about It?”

Klaus and others at Columbia University participate in the work of the Columbia Center for Hazards and Risk Research (http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/chrr/).

The mission of the CHRR is to advance the predictive science of natural and environmental hazards and the integration of science with hazard risk assessment and risk management.

Columbia University’s physical and social scientists are undertaking a new research program in disasters and risk management motivated by a clear and compelling need to reduce the catastrophic impacts on society from natural and human-induced hazards. The Center for Hazards and Risk Research draws on Columbia’s acknowledged expertise in Earth and environmental sciences, engineering, social sciences, public policy, public health and business.

It has a twofold focus:

The advancement of predictive capability for hazard and risk
The integration of core science with techniques for hazard assessment and risk management.

This program infuses the scientific and technological perspective on disasters with a deep appreciation of the social, political, and economic realities of the developing, as well as the developed, world. It requires a renewed focus on translating the key scientific concepts of probability and uncertainty into a language and set of rules useful to decision-makers.

CHRR Objectives

The Center will pursue several key objectives that lie at the intersection of hazards and risk research:

Understanding the predictability of natural and anthropogenic hazards, their direct and indirect impacts, and their deterministic and probabilistic interactions
Understanding the social, political and economic context of risk analysis, risk awareness, and risk management, with an international scope
Developing quantitative methodologies for aggregating risks from multiple hazards and for estimating direct and indirect losses
Developing predictive capability for scenario and impact modeling
Evaluating and communicating error and uncertainty at all levels of analysis
Developing the knowledge and information systems necessary for community building and community interactions, in order to build resiliency at all levels.