Improving knowledge of seismic risk and exposed elements by providing tools to support the cross-border population
ICGC coordinates the POCRISC project “For a common culture of seismic risk”.
The project is part of the Interreg V-A Spain-France-Andorra territorial cooperation program (POCTEFA 2014-2020) created to promote the sustainable development of the border territory between the three countries.
The aim of POCRISC project is to develop a harmonized approach to seismic risk assessment for emergency managers, encouraging the dissemination of common and shared information aimed at local authorities and the public, and providing decision support tools tailored to the need of crisis managers. All this focused on a cross-border area that includes the regions of Catalonia in Spain, Occitania in France and Andorra. This project will improve knowledge of seismic risk and exposed elements and will provide tools to support risk monitoring and mitigation strategies that include raising awareness among the population of the seismic phenomenon. By the same way, the project will provide information, studies and results that improve the culture for efficient management of seismic risk situations.
One of the main results of the project is an automatic municipally approximation in real time of the damage caused by an earthquake with the aim of provide information for the emergency managers. In addition, a smartphone application for assessing seismic vulnerability of buildings and post-seismic damage will be of great use to seismic emergency management services. Practical guides of seismic vulnerability aimed at building technicians and risk managers represent a great added value. The results will be shared between cross-border emergency services through crisis exercises, training workshops for the use of the tools developed and a post-seismic intervention mock.
Ten partners (Catalan, French and Andorran) and six entities involved in the project participate for technical advice and validation of the results (associate partners).
Some of these partners have been collaborating with the ICGC on Interreg (European international cooperation) projects since 2003 to improve cross-border coordination of earthquake intervention and seismic risk mitigation in the Pyrenees ISARD and SISPYR projects).
The multidisciplinary bodies participating in POCRISC project will analyze the problem of seismic risk from different points of view: innovative (universities, research centers, technology companies), practical (entities responsible for seismic information and risk management, civil protection) and foresight (builders association).
Territorial cooperation program INTERREG V-A Spain-France -Andorra
[FEDER POCTEFA EFA158/16]
As part of the POCRISC project, coordinated by ICGC, an earthquake simulacrum was conducted on November 19, 2021. The simulated magnitude was 5.9 with a significant number of damage and a high number of victims in the French department of the Hautes-Pyrénées. The management of a seismic crisis requires the activation of many coordination functions linked to the Departamental Operations Center (DOC) and, it’s for this reason that a working group has been creates dedicated to damage assessment for communicate to the head of coordination only the necessary information for global management. POCRISC digital platform was used for the simulation, a tool that allowed the coordination of equipment and transmission of information in real time.
The deployment of action protocols in the event of a seismic emergency has allowed to improve the efficiency of coordination tasks by the competent authorities and assign each person a priority task.
Contact
