Section 2.1: "Earthquake Risk and Early Warning"

Head of Section: Prof. Dr. Jochen Zschau

The risk of being injured in a traffic accident is composed of two elements: The hazard of even being involved in crash, and one's personal vulnerability, like wearing a seat belt or not. Georisks depend on the same two factors. In this case, the hazard is the probability that an earthquake will occur, or a volcano erupt. The vulnerability measures the potential damage that can be caused by an extreme natural event. In Section 2.1, we investigate how to reduce georisk in the broadest sense. We work to evaluate both the hazards caused by earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, as well as looking for methods to reduce exposure.
 

Our research activities:
 

• 1. Geohazards: From process understanding to quantifying extremes
• 2. Risk dynamics: From monitoring to analysing change in risks
• 3. Early warning: From critical processes to rapid disaster information