Where, When, and Why Does Earthquake Hazard Become
Disaster?

In this talk, the scientific and educational aspects of disaster risk reduction are considered; a novel approach to seismic hazard assessment is presented; observing and modeling capabilities to reduce uncertainties in predicting earthquake hazard is discussed; and the contribution of hazard and vulnerability to earthquake risk is analyzed. Prof. Ismail-Zadeh considers economic and political factors as well as the factors of awareness, preparedness and risk communication, which brought about the humanitarian tragedies of the early XXI century. Finally, he discusses a trans-disciplinary system approach to disaster risk research and assessment.

Prof. Alik Ismail-Zadeh is Senior Scientist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany; Chief Scientist/Research Professor at the Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia; and Visiting Professor of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France. He has been visiting scholar/professor in UCLA, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Uppsala, and the Royal Institute of Technology at Stockholm. His scientific interests cover studies of dynamics of the crust, the lithosphere, and the upper mantle and their surface manifestations including seismicity, seismic hazard and risk. He is a principal author and co-author of about 110 papers and five books, including the recent book “Extreme Natural Hazards, Disaster Risk and Societal Implication" published by the Cambridge University Press.

Professor Ismail-Zadeh is Secretary-General of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), has been President of the Natural Hazards Focus Group of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), President of the IUGG Union Commission of Geophysical Risk and Sustainability, and the leader of the ENHANS project (www.enhans.org). He is Vice Chair of the ad-hoc group of experts on disaster risk assessment of the International Council for Science (ICSU).

He is a recipient of the Academia European Young Scientist Medal, AGU International Award, AOGS Ian Axford Lecture Award on Natural Hazards, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Astronomical Society, awarded several prestigious fellowships including A. von Humboldt Foundation, Royal Society of London, and Russian President.

Last edited: 10 June 2014