The Pacific Northwest’s most recent large earthquake, the 2001 Nisqually earthquake near Seattle, was a magnitude 6.8, but history shows that the region could be rocked any day by a much larger event. At the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting this week in Seattle, researchers from the 91探花 and federal agencies will discuss the latest science on megaquakes as an emerging topic of concern.

A set of three presentations and discussions, “” will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Washington State Convention Center.

Organized by , an assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, and , a 91探花professor of Earth and space sciences and director of the UW-based , the event will provide the latest research on seismic hazards, both along the coast and in built-up areas inland.

“We hope to inform the audience and public about what is and is not known about subduction-zone earthquakes and their effects,” Tobin said. “While the scenarios will be specific to Cascadia, the fundamental work is about investigating how fault movement launches tsunamis and under what conditions the seismic waves create ground shaking that affects buildings and other structures.”

The title references a line from the infamous 2015 New Yorker article, “,” that put Pacific Northwest megaquakes on the popular radar. Evidence from tsunamis shows that a huge earthquake occurred off the Pacific Northwest on January 26, 1700. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates a 14% chance it could occur again in the next 50 years.

The session will consider both what such an earthquake might look like, and what it could mean for buildings and other structures in Seattle 鈥� many of which were built before the region’s seismic hazards were fully understood.

, director of the Center for Tsunami Research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will begin the session at 3:30 p.m. with a discussion of , which is the greatest hazard to communities on the Washington and Oregon coasts. Then, , a research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey and 91探花affiliate assistant professor in Earth and space sciences, will present on .

Wirth builds on her 2017 work, as a 91探花postdoctoral researcher, that simulated what a magnitude-9 megathrust earthquake could look like depending on where along the Cascadia subduction zone the offshore rupture starts, and how close the slipping gets to cities on land. The team has now refined its results and begun to apply the simulations to estimate infrastructure damage.

“Since we don’t have any direct observational records of the 1700 earthquake, our 3D supercomputer simulations of various possible magnitude-9 Cascadia earthquake scenarios has allowed us to quantify the range of possible ground shaking the Pacific Northwest might experience,” Wirth said.

, a 91探花professor of civil and environmental engineering, will close with a talk focused on damage, titled: “.” He is leading the research on building response with , a 91探花professor of civil and environmental engineering.

On Saturday, Berman will share results of a published this month in the Journal of Structural Engineering that considers how 32 midrise to tall building types, ranging from 4 to 40 stories, would fare in 30 different simulated Cascadia magnitude-9 earthquakes. The study led by , a 91探花postdoctoral researcher, finds that the current building codes underestimate how much shaking would occur as the loose soil in the Seattle basin amplifies the frequency of waves generated by offshore earthquakes, with strong shaking projected to last for almost two minutes.

“The Cascadia subduction zone ground motions have longer duration and different frequency content than the ground motions experienced in California, which has formed the basis for most U.S. building codes,” Berman said. “The impact of those differences on structural performance was a big unknown prior to this research.”

Each presentation will also include questions from those attending the AAAS annual meeting.

“We are hoping that our session communicates the latest in subduction-zone research, but we also look forward to opening up a dialog between panelists and the audience,” Duvall said. “The AAAS format is special that way, that it offers a real chance for two-way communication.”

In the days and weeks following an earthquake or hurricane, precious data about how buildings, bridges, roads, slopes and people fared in the disaster may get lost forever if well-equipped researchers are not able to enter the field rapidly.

Unstable buildings get bulldozed without documentation of how they were damaged, making it difficult to assess how building codes might be improved. Weather washes away key clues that could help us build more resilient communities. Many households are displaced, and some businesses will close forever.

At the 91探花, a new Post-Disaster, Rapid Response Research聽Facility funded by a $4.1 million National Science Foundation grant will provide necessary instrumentation and tools to collect and assess critical post-disaster data, with the goal of reducing physical damage and socio-economic losses from future events. 聽Part of a by the NSF’s Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure program, the RAPID Facility will make the data openly available to researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

“Often with rescue and response efforts, this very valuable data disappears really quickly,” said center director , a 91探花associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. “By collecting this data in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, we can begin to understand what went wrong and why. This allows us to better prepare and take precautionary measures in advance of future events.”

The RAPID Facility, an interdisciplinary center that will be housed in the 91探花Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will focus on two types of natural hazards: wind hazards, such as tornadoes and coastal storms, and earthquakes, which includes earthquake-induced ground failure and tsunamis. The center’s leadership team also includes faculty from the University of Florida, Oregon State University and Virginia Tech.

It will offer next-generation tools 鈥� laser scanning equipment, seismic instruments, mobile devices for social surveys and mixed-media recording, drones outfitted with cameras, sensors that can measure damage at the centimeter scale 鈥� and assistance to teams that can deploy in the aftermath of a disaster anywhere around the world. It will also offer training to communities who wish to conduct post-disaster investigations themselves, as well as assess the social costs of disasters.

The RAPID Facility will also create new software tools for transmitting, integrating, exploring and visualizing the complex data sets. These include mobile apps to assess structural damage in the field and a platform for mixed-media social data gathering. At the UW, a computer-automated virtual reality environment will also allow people to walk into a room and 鈥渟ee鈥� the disaster scene in three dimensions as if they were there. That technology was pioneered by partner Oregon State University, as the video below shows:

鈥淭he idea is that you can use the facility to collect data 鈥� either through our staff or our training 鈥� and then you can come to the center months later and recreate the field experience by walking through a damaged building or looking at how much a particular area flooded,鈥� Wartman said.

One of the center鈥檚 main goals is to better inform mathematical models used to predict how much damage buildings, bridges, levees and other key infrastructure will suffer in a certain sized earthquake or storm. By using data from actual disasters to uncover flaws in the models, communities can better prepare for real-world eventualities.

For instance, models currently predict how bridges from Seattle to the Eastside would perform in earthquakes of differing magnitudes. If those turn out to be off target, emergency managers may not have the right plans in place to ensure that hospitals on one side of the lake aren鈥檛 overburdened or supplies can get to where they need to go.

鈥淭hese computational models require real-world data to be calibrated and validated,鈥� said , 91探花associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and one of the center鈥檚 principal investigators. 鈥淧ost-disaster data will help us improve the various models necessary for understanding losses from natural disasters.鈥�

, a research scientist in human centered design and engineering and the third 91探花principal investigator, will lead the development of social science and citizen science tools. 鈥淯nderstanding post-disaster social impacts and responses is one of the most challenging aspects of reconnaissance. The RAPID facility will provide unprecedented resources to innovate workflows and tools for systematic collection of qualitative and quantitative data for social scientists,鈥� Miles said.

In addition to supporting researchers, the facility will enable citizens to use social media and mobile devices to crowdsource post-disaster data and build awareness about wind- and earthquake-related impacts.

The new center includes an interdisciplinary faculty team: 聽 91探花civil and environmental engineering professor will focus on structural and engineering analyses, Applied Physics Laboratory research scientist will lead software development, and Evans School of Public Policy professor will focus on data collection methods for social science.

The center builds on 91探花faculty expertise with post-disaster data collection and analysis. Wartman to collect data and document conditions following the 2014 Oso Landslide, the deadliest landslide in the history of the United States. Miles has conducted multiple socio-economic reconnaissance efforts, including an NSF-funded project to understand how businesses were impacted by Hurricane Isaac. Berman鈥檚 current work includes NSF-funded research projects to develop seismic load-resisting systems and to on the Pacific Northwest.

The grant follows NSF鈥檚 $40 million , announced in September 2015, which funds a network of shared research centers and resources at various universities across the nation. The goal is to reduce the vulnerability of buildings, tunnels, waterways, communication networks, energy systems and social groups in order to increase the disaster resilience of communities across the United States.

“Under NHERI, future discoveries will not only mitigate the impacts of earthquakes, but also will advance our ability to protect life and property from windstorms such as hurricanes and tornadoes,” said Joy Paushke, program director in NSF’s Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation.

For more information about the RAPID Facility, contact Wartman at wartman@uw.edu or 206-685-4806. For more information about today’s NSF announcement, .

Can we build to withstand natural disasters, reduce environmental toxins as consumption rises, meet urban transportation challenges so food, supplies and consumer products can get where they need to go?

Over the next month, College of Engineering鈥檚 annual will feature faculty focusing on these questions and developing technologies to build more resilient urban communities. The three lectures 鈥� on earthquake resiliency, sustainable transport of goods and emerging technologies for safe, clean water 鈥� are free and open to the public, but seating is limited and .

Engineering Solutions for a Seismically Resilient Seattle

The series kicks off Wednesday, Oct. 12, in Kane Hall 130 with a discussion by civil and environmental engineering associate professor on the Pacific Northwest鈥檚 readiness to withstand and recover from a major earthquake. Berman will detail seismic risks that are unique to the region; the innovation, research and planning necessary to prepare for 鈥渢he big one鈥�; and structural engineering technologies that can enable faster and stronger post-event repair.

Delivering Sustainability: Transporting Goods in Urban Spaces

On Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Kane Hall 120, , associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, will explore a question with answers that may surprise you: How does the rise of online shopping impact efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and create sustainable communities? As the popularity of online shopping and grocery delivery rises, consumers do have an opportunity to make more sustainable choices when it comes to transporting goods in urban spaces. But more delivery trucks also create competition for limited road and curb space with cars, buses, bikes and urban residents.

Understanding Our Chemical Fingerprints: Safer Water for Our Cities

The lecture series closes on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Kane Hall 120 with civil and environmental engineering associate professor , an expert in the distinctive chemical fingerprints on water that our daily human activities leave, impacting salmon populations and other fish, animals and plants, as well as people鈥檚 health and safety. Although more than 80,000 chemicals are in circulation and thousands are introduced each year, only a handful are comprehensively evaluated for safety by the Environmental Protection Agency. Kolodziej will discuss the pathways that these chemicals take from homes, factories and offices into the waters around us, as well as emerging systems to remove toxic chemicals.

All lectures are free and start at 7:30 p.m. Advance registration, either or by calling 206-543-0540, is required. All lectures will be broadcast at a later date on .

The large X-ray computed tomography scanner, also known as a CT scanner, can penetrate steel, concrete, bone 鈥揺ven nanofabricated electronic sensors and microchips 鈥� to generate high-resolution, three-dimensional images. The instrument will let researchers see virtual slices of the insides of objects at high resolution, capturing a level of visual detail often not possible with current lab equipment.

“This has the potential to be an interdisciplinary piece of research equipment that we think will be really valuable for the university as a whole,” said , a 91探花associate professor of civil and environmental engineering who is leading the project. “I think it will get a lot of use.”

Researchers across campus will be able to use the machine to answer questions such as how concrete and steel components are damaged in earthquakes, what the inside of a 3-D printed object looks like, and how models of the skulls and jawbones of mammals can shed light on their diet changes over time.

The scanner arrives next spring and will be the only publicly available 3-D scanner of its size in the Pacific Northwest, Berman said. It also will be available for researchers at other schools in the region to use. The National Science Foundation recently awarded the 91探花a $1 million grant to buy the equipment.

The works like the familiar 3-D CT scanners in many hospitals and clinics, but comes enclosed in a 10-foot cube. Objects are placed inside the box, where a robot rotates and spins them to allow the instrument to X-ray through the object at various angles. A computer then digitally reconstructs the object in 3-D with resolution as small as 2 microns, about one-fiftieth the diameter of a human hair.

http://youtu.be/xZC9qZeBLpY

There are no health risks or concerns from scanning because the machine is enclosed in a steel lead case.

The idea for the scanner came from Berman’s structural engineering group in civil engineering. He and his colleagues often test large components of infrastructure for their resistance to earthquakes and other loads. This scanner will help researches see cracks and damage in key components that are not visible on the surface, ultimately leading to recommendations for safer structural design, Berman said.

Berman also heard from colleagues across campus in biology and anthropology labs and at the Burke Museum who want to analyze large skeletal pieces, fossils and animal remains. Aerospace researchers were curious about the internal structure of composite materials that are known to crack in places that are hard to see from the outside.

In lab, anthropology students will use the CT scanner to see changes in the relationship among the bones of human feet while force is applied to them. This will help her team understand the foot structure of our hominin ancestors, which is different from anything alive today.

“The most exciting thing that I think will come of having this machine on campus is that our students and other scholars from diverse fields will be able to work side by side,” Kramer said. “This opportunity allows us to do exactly what a great university is supposed to do 鈥� open doors for people to rooms full of ideas, in fields that they didn’t know existed.”

Initially, several technicians at the 91探花will operate the machine, then train graduate students to take full control of the scans for their labs and research groups.

“A fair amount of experimentation will need to happen to get the best scan for your application,” Berman said, adding that different materials will require different resolutions and light intensities during the X-ray scans.

Along with the National Science Foundation, a number of 91探花units funded this project, including the Office of Research, the College of Engineering, the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of the Environment, and the departments of civil and environmental engineering, aeronautics and astronautics, biology, anthropology and Earth and space sciences.

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Forty-nine finalist teams and about 600 people will converge on campus this Friday and Saturday for the . It’s the largest club event in the nation for civil engineering undergraduates, said , faculty adviser for the 91探花team and an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

The 91探花was chosen earlier this year to be the host institution. The might be discussed during a banquet event, but elements of the competition were set months ago and were not changed after the collapse, Berman said. Many of the student designs, however, will be steel truss structures similar to the Skagit bridge.

“These bridges might look a little different from the Skagit bridge, but most will also be truss bridges because they are very efficient and fast to build,” Berman said.

From 3-6 p.m. on Friday (May 31), each of the 49 student-built steel bridges will be on display on the UW’s . Students will be judged for the aesthetics of their bridges, which are roughly one-fifth the size of a standard bridge, or about 20 feet long and 4 feet wide.

Then on Saturday, the teams will race to assemble their bridges in the . During the school year, the teams designed and built prefabricated pieces to fit the competition’s detailed specifications. In the finals, teams will be judged on how fast they can assemble their bridges, how much they weigh and how the structures deform under large loads.

The Saturday portion of the competition will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Teams will compete in rounds, and close to 50 local civil engineers and 91探花alumni will serve as judges. Most of the are open to the public.

“The students go through the design and fabrication process themselves,” Berman said. “It’s a really good opportunity to take what they learn in the classroom and actually apply it here in the competition.”

Teams will have to work through a number of realistic constraints as they build the bridges, including a fake river they can’t step in and height-clearance restrictions for traffic. All of the teams have competed regionally before the finals, so the chance of a collapse is relatively small, Berman said.

The annual competition is sponsored by the and the .

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For more information, contact Berman at jwberman@uw.edu or 206-616-3530. 91探花student team members are available for interviews; please go through Berman.