Seismic resilience of Arctic infrastructure and social systems: 1st international workshop

Abstract

Environmental, ecological, and social changes interactively influence the seismic response of built infrastructure, the natural environment, and social systems in the Arctic. This includes direct and indirect climate impacts on earthquake-induced damages and postearthquake recovery. Challenges with currently available knowledge are that 1) scientific knowledge is discipline-focused, 2) local community and Indigenous knowledge is not always equally respected and incorporated, and 3) even in some sectors, the fundamental technical understanding is lacking. In order to design new sustainable and resilient systems that will minimise the damage of earthquakes to Arctic infrastructure and environmental systems, scientists and engineers need to better understand the threats facing communities and their infrastructure, including the local and global consequences of a changing climate. Knowing that some Arctic and sub-Arctic regions are seismically active, such a holistic approach becomes even more pressing. For example, the state of Alaska in the U.S. is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. About 10% of the world’s instrumented seismic events occur in Alaska, including some of the largest historic earthquakes. Seismically induced hazards can impact both natural environments (such as ground deformations, landslides, rock falls, tsunamis, liquefaction) and built infrastructure (such as collapse of buildings and bridges and disruptions in lifeline systems including transportation networks, power transmission, water supply and sewage systems, and communication networks). All of these damages and disruptions directly impact social systems and communities. Thus, any resilience metrics, recovery decision, or mitigation strategy require inputs from a range of stakeholders with different perspectives. A workshop was hosted by the University of New Hampshire to facilitate convergent discussions and to assess and prioritise the research needs and future directions of seismic resilience in the Arctic. The overarching goal of this workshop was to build capacity for investigating the resilience of Arctic infrastructure and social systems in response to seismic events in light of a changing climate. The core