Earthquake risk reduction

News and Updates

The 2020 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures

February 1, 2021

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinated with the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the earthquake engineering

A view of rubble in the central business district of Christchurch, New Zealand, following a devastating earthquake.

New Report Charts Path Toward Superior Earthquake Recovery

January 27, 2021

For the last century, seismic building codes and practices have primarily focused on saving lives by reducing the likelihood of significant damage or structural

The remains of what was once a home improvement store in Joplin, Mo., showing the destructive power of the tornado that struck the area in May 2011.

NIST Awards $6.6 Million for Research to Help Structures Better Withstand Earthquakes, Wind and Fire

August 8, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is awarding more than $6.6 million to fund research

Projects and Programs

Worker looks over the disaster site at New York City's World Trade Center

Structural Performance for Multi-hazards Program

This program addresses the gap between basic research and building codes, standards, and practice through measurement science research to: (1) predict

National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Coordination

This is an annually renewed project that supports NIST's Lead Agency coordination of National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) research and

Seismic Response of Reinforced Concrete Walls

This project includes two critical problem-focused tasks in Performance Based Seismic Engineering (PBSE): (1) the evaluation of reinforced concrete wall models

Collapse Performance Modeling of Ordinary Reinforced Concrete Columns under Combined Axial and Seismic Loading

This project studies the collapse performance of concrete columns that do not meet the stringent reinforcement requirements for special columns defined by ACI

Publications

Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time

January 21, 2021

Author(s)

Siamak Sattar, Kersting Ryan, Lucy Arendt, David Bonowitz, Mary Comerio, Craig Davis, Greg Deierlein, Katherine J. Johnson

Assessment of First Generation Performance-Based Seismic Design Methods for New Steel Buildings, Volume 4: Buckling-Restrained Braced Frames

December 31, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, John L. Harris

Application of ASCE 41 to a two-story CFS building

October 23, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, Zhidong Zhang, Benjamin W. Schafer

The objective of this paper is to summarize the evaluation results from applying the updated performance-based seismic design provisions: ASCE 41-17, on a cold

Seismic Evaluation of a 2-Story Cold-Formed Steel Framed Building using ASCE 41-17

September 29, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, Ivana Olivares, Benjamin W. Schafer

The objective of this report is to assess the adequacy of new provisions in ASCE 41 for seismic assessment of cold-formed steel framed buildings. A two-story