Arup Joins Global Initiative to Increase Earthquake Resilience

Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, announced that it has joined a global initiative dedicated to mitigating and raising awareness of earthquake risk around the world. The firm has signed up as a partner with GEM – the Global Earthquake Model group. Arup’s team of earthquake engineers is committed to supporting GEM for five years as part of this agreement.

The GEM initiative involves high-level collaboration between national government bodies, international aid organizations, academia, global finance and insurance groups, as well as vulnerable communities living in earthquake zones around the globe.

The group is working together to develop transparent tools to better quantify earthquake risk that will not only save lives, but also help build financial resilience in advance of disasters. Creating the tools required to more accurately quantify earthquake risk and the benefits of mitigation lies at the heart of the project, according to Arup’s global lead for catastrophe risk management, Andy Thompson.

Insurer and reinsurers that support GEM include, Zurich, FM Global, Munich Re, Hannover Re, Renaissance Re, and others. GEM also has the support and backing of international bodies such as the OECD, the World Bank, UNESCO, and the IAEE. Other partners include national institutions from across the world, including the United States, Chile, Venezuela, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.

Source: GEM/Arup