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In high-temperature wells, annular pressure buildup (APB) caused by temperature increase is a widespread phenomenon in production, especially in offshore thermal recovery wells. It increases the load on the tubing and casing and consequently threatens the wellbore integrity. Hence, research on casing safety evaluation and APB management has great significance for field production. In this paper, the tubing and casing safety evaluation and APB limit determination methods are presented considering the effect of thermal stress and APB. Based on the case study of an offshore thermal recovery well, an APB-management chart and the recommended optimal range of APB are provided. Finally, an analysis of three commonly used mitigation methods is presented. The effect and the recommended parameters of these mitigation methods are further discussed. The research results show that the thermal stress and APB phenomena affect the stress distribution of the casing and may bring great danger to the wellbore integrity. Maintaining the APB in the safety range is necessary for field production. It is recommended that the annular pressure be kept below the critical value given in this paper. Injecting nitrogen in annulus A and installing rupture disks are both effective methods to improve casing safety. In the case study, the APB decrease percentage is more than 75% when nitrogen is injected in annulus A. However, the nitrogen pressure, the rupture pressure and the installation depth of the rupture disk need to be determined via casing safety evaluation. The effect of optimizing the steel grade and thickness of the tubing and casing is not significant. They can be used as assistance methods when other mitigation methods are adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little historic data about the vulnerability of the damage elements in debris flow disaster in China. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate the vulnerability of debris flow quantitatively. This paper was devoted to the research of the vulnerability of brick and concrete building impacted by debris flow which widely existed in affected area. Under two assumptions, several prototype walls of brick and concrete were constructed to simulate the damaged structures in debris flow while the iron spheres were taken as the substitute of debris flow. The failure criterion of brick and concrete building was proposed with referring to the structure standards (brick and concrete) and the damage pattern in debris flow. The quantitatively estimation of vulnerability of brick and concrete building was finally established based on Fuzzy mathematics and the proposed failure criterion. The results show that the maximum impact bending moment is the best fit to be the disaster-causing factor in vulnerability curve and formula. The experiments in this paper is the preliminary research on the vulnerability of the element impacted by debris flow. The method and conclusion will be useful for the quantitative estimation of the vulnerability in debris flow and also can be referred in other types of the vulnerable elements research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses demonstrated results from the electrical safety improvement strategy documented in the paper, Creating a Continuous Improvement Environment for Electrical Safety, presented at the 1992 IEEE Industry Applications Society Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference. Two of the original authors present this follow-up paper with a critique of the continuous improvement strategy outlined in the original paper and discussion of lessons learned from its implementation. The paper shows how this strategy is aligned with leading edge developments in advanced safety management of hazards with high potential for fatality and includes a discussion on applying this strategy to these other hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A spatially explicit object-based temporal assessment of buildings and citizens exposed to natural hazards in Austria is presented, including elements at risk to river flooding, torrential flooding, and snow avalanches. It is shown that the repeatedly-stated as- sumption of increasing losses due to continued population growth and related increase in assets has to be opposed to the local development of building stock. While some regions have shown a clearly above-average increase in assets, other regions were characterised by a below-average development. This mirrors the topography of the country, but also the different economic activities. While hotels and hostels are extraor dinary prone to mountain hazards, commercial buildings as well as buildings used for recreation purpose are considerably exposed to river flooding. Residential buildings have shown an average exposure, compared to the amount of buildings of this type in the overall building stock. In sum, around 5% of all buildings are exposed to mountain hazards, and around 9% to river flooding, with around 1% of the buildings stock being multi-exposed. It is shown that the dynamics of elements at risk exposed have a time lag once land use regulations are enforced, and it is concluded that an object-based assessment has clear advantages compared to the assessment using aggregated land use data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a wide spectrum of imaging capabilities--from optical to radar sensors, low to very high resolution, continental to local scale, single-image to multi-temporal approaches, yearly to sub-daily acquisition repeat cycles--Earth Observation (EO) offers several opportunities for the geoscience community to map and monitor natural and human-induced Earth hazards from space. The Special Issue "Observing Geohazards from Space" of Geosciences gathers 12 research articles on the development, validation, and implementation of satellite EO data, processing methods, and applications for mapping and monitoring of geohazards such as slow moving landslides, ground subsidence and uplift, and active and abandoned mining-induced ground movements. Papers published in this Special Issue provide novel case studies demonstrating how EO and remote sensing data can be used to detect and delineate land instability and geological hazards in different environmental contexts and using a range of spatial resolutions and image processing methods. Remote sensing datasets used in the Special Issue papers encompass satellite imagery from the ERS-1/2, ENVISAT, RADARSAT-1/2, and Sentinel-1 C-band, TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed X-band, and ALOS L-band SAR missions; Landsat 7, SPOT-5, WorldView-2/3, and Sentinel-2 multi-spectral data; UAV-derived RGB and near infrared aerial photographs; LiDAR surveying; and GNSS positioning data. Techniques that are showcased include, but are not limited to, differential Interferometric SAR (InSAR) and its advanced approaches such as Persistent Scatterers (PS) and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) methods to estimate ground deformation, Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) to identify landslides in high resolution multi-spectral data, UAV and airborne photogrammetry, Structure-from-Motion (SfM) for digital elevation model generation, aerial photo-interpretation, feature extraction, and time series analysis. Case studies presented in the papers focus on landslides, natural and human-induced subsidence, and groundwater management and mining-related ground deformation in many local to regional-scale study areas in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review paper presents an analysis of safety practices in chemical laboratories. It encompasses a systematic exploration of various facets including risk assessment, hazard mitigation, and the implementation of safety protocols. Emphasis is placed on the critical role of continuous education and training, advocating a proactive safety culture, and adapting to technological advancements. Additionally, the paper underscores the importance of adhering to regulatory standards, promoting exceeding baseline compliance toward establishing best practices in laboratory safety. This comprehensive approach highlights the dynamic, multifaceted nature of laboratory safety, positioning it as a fundamental aspect of scientific research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid advancement of intelligent assisted driving technology has significantly enhanced transportation convenience in society and contributed to the mitigation of traffic safety hazards. Addressing the potential for drivers to experience abnormal physical conditions during the driving process, an enhanced lightweight network model based on YOLOv5 for detecting abnormal facial expressions of drivers is proposed in this paper. Initially, the lightweighting of the YOLOv5 backbone network is achieved by integrating the FasterNet Block, a lightweight module from the FasterNet network, with the C3 module in the main network. This combination forms the C3-faster module. Subsequently, the original convolutional modules in the YOLOv5 model are replaced with the improved GSConvns module to reduce computational load. Building upon the GSConvns module, the VoV-GSCSP module is constructed to ensure the lightweighting of the neck network while maintaining detection accuracy. Finally, channel pruning and fine-tuning operations are applied to the entire model. Channel pruning involves removing channels with minimal impact on output results, further reducing the model's computational load, parameters, and size. The fine-tuning operation compensates for any potential loss in detection accuracy. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves a substantial reduction in both parameter count and computational load while maintaining a high detection accuracy of 84.5%. The improved model has a compact size of only 4.6 MB, making it more conducive to the efficient operation of onboard computers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snowmelt floods are highly hazardous meteorological disasters that can potentially threaten human lives and property. Hence, snowmelt susceptibility mapping (SSM) plays an important role in flood prevention systems and aids emergency responders and flood risk managers. In this paper, a method of identifying snowmelt flood hazards is proposed, and a large‐scale snowmelt flood hazard zonation scheme based on historical recordings and multisource remote sensing data is established. To assess the quality of our approach, the proposed model was tested in the cold and arid region of Xinjiang, China. Overall, 140 historical snowmelt flood events and 27 explanatory factors were selected to construct a geospatial dataset for SSM of the contemporary period. GridSearchCV was used to comprehensively search the candidate parameters from the grid of given parameters obtained with the random forest (RF) algorithm. Then, the geospatial dataset was divided into two subsets: 70% for training and 30% for testing. Next, SSM results were obtained with the RF algorithm using optimized parameters. The results indicate that our optimized RF classifier performs well for the task of SSM, with a high AUC value (0.975) for the test dataset. The validation and analysis suggest that the proposed method can efficiently identify snowmelt flood hazards in undersampled arid areas at a regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research delves into the intricate dynamics of landslides, emphasizing their consequences on transportation infrastructure, specifically highways and roadway bridges in North Carolina. Based on a prior investigation of bridges in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, we found that bridges above water and situated in valleys can be exposed to both landslide and flooding risks. These bridges faced heightened vulnerability to combined landslides and flooding events due to their low depth on the water surface and the potential for raised flood heights due to upstream landslides. Leveraging a dataset spanning more than a century and inclusive of landslide and bridge information, we employed logistic regression (LR) and random forest (RF) models to predict landslide susceptibility in North Carolina. The study considered conditioning factors such as elevation, aspect, slope, rainfall, distance to faults, and distance to rivers, yielding LR and RF models with accuracy rates of 76.3% and 82.7%, respectively. To establish that a bridge's location is at the bottom of a valley, data including landform, slope, and elevation difference near the bridge location were combined to delineate a bridge in a valley. The difference between bridge height and the lowest river elevation is established as an assumed flooding potential (AFP), which is then used to quantify the flooding risk. Compared to traditional flood risk values, the AFP, reported in elevation differences, is more straightforward and helps bridge engineers visualize the flood risk to a bridge. Specifically, a bridge (NCDOT ID: 740002) is found susceptible to both landslide (92%) and flooding (AFT of 6.61 m) risks and has been validated by field investigation, which is currently being retrofitted by North Carolina DOT with slope reinforcements (soil nailing and grouting). This paper is the first report evaluating the multi-hazard issue of bridges in valleys. The resulting high-fidelity risk map for North Carolina can help bridge engineers in proactive maintenance planning. Future endeavors will extend the analysis to incorporate actual flooding risk susceptibility analysis, thus enhancing our understanding of multi-hazard impacts and guiding resilient mitigation strategies for transportation infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard identification is a fundamental step in safety management that has the potential to reduce the number and severity of occupational injuries on construction sites. Researchers have identified and evaluated some of the hazards, but few have extensively discussed all of them and none have classified them by sector. The goal of this paper is to fill that research gap by considering hazard identification through an organized synthesis of the existing literature. After a comprehensive literature review, 236 publications were deemed eligible for further analysis. Eighteen safety hazards were identified and then categorized into four groups based on their physiological impacts, ranked based on frequency of citation, and classified by sector. The results revealed that falls from heights, material handling, and heavy machinery were the most frequently cited hazards and the most likely to impact all sectors. Mitigation strategies were also identified, and it was determined that most hazards can be mitigated through the use of personal protective equipment, and effective training and supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tsunami monitoring and early warning systems are mainly established to deal with seismogenic tsunamis generated by sudden seafloor fault displacement. However, a global tsunami triggered by the 2022 Tonga volcanic eruption promoted the need for tsunami early warning and hazard mitigation of non-seismogenic tsunamis in coastal countries. This paper studied the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of historical volcanic tsunamis and summarized high-risk areas of volcanic tsunamis. The circum southwestern Pacific volcanic zone, including the Sunda volcanic belt and the Indo-Australian plate, is a concentrated area of active volcanoes and major volcanic tsunamis. In addition, the challenges associated with adapting seismogenic tsunami techniques for use in the context of volcanic tsunamis were elucidated. At the same time, based on historical records and post-disaster surveys, typical historical volcanic tsunami events and involved mechanisms were summarized. The results show that a majority of volcanic tsunamis may involve multiple generation mechanisms, and some mechanisms show geographical distribution characteristics. The complexity of volcanic tsunami mechanisms poses challenges to tsunami early warning by measuring tsunami sources to evaluate the possible extent of impact, or using numerical modeling to simulate the process of a tsunami. Therefore, a concise overview of the lessons learned and the current status of early warning systems for volcanic tsunamis was provided. Finally, a conceptual scheme of monitoring systems for volcanic tsunamis based on historical volcanoes, real-time volcanic eruption information and sea level data, as well as remote sensing images, was presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate change increases the frequency and severity of wildfires across the Western U.S., there is an urgent need for improved wildfire preparedness and responses. Socially marginalized communities are particularly vulnerable to wildfire effects because they disproportionately lack access to the resources necessary to prepare for and recover from wildfire and are frequently underrepresented in the wildfire planning process. As an exemplar of how to understand and improve preparedness in such communities, this research identified communities in Ventura County facing heightened marginalization and risk of wildfire using spatial analysis. Researchers then deployed a county-wide survey and held focus groups in two communities identified in the spatial analysis. Research revealed that non-English speakers, women, people of color, and newer residents in Ventura County are less prepared for wildfire than other groups. Based on these findings, this paper recommends an expansion of traditional risk mitigation programs, strengthened community engagement efforts, and strategies that increase community resources and leadership to decouple marginalization and wildfire vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landslide dynamics model is one of the methods for evaluating landslide motion processes, contributing to disaster prevention and mitigation. With the advancement of science and technology, GIS has become the mainstream platform for landslide simulation. However, the three-dimensional movement of landslides is intricate, leading to a lack of methods for three-dimensional landslide numerical simulation on GIS platforms. In this paper, we propose a three-dimensional, two-phase landslide dynamics model. Through the proposed solution, three-dimensional modeling and numerical simulation of landslides can be achieved on GIS platforms. Simultaneously, drawing inspiration from the SPH kernel functions, we visualize the results of the three-dimensional model on the GIS platform. Simulation of the Yigong landslide demonstrates that our solution can realize three-dimensional landslide simulation on the GIS platform. Our model adeptly captures numerous details in the landslide motion process. However, constrained by the inherent limitations of the three-dimensional model, the model results are susceptible to numerical oscillations and diffusion, with the accuracy of the model being controlled by grid partitioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-altitude rockfalls, as one of the major geological disasters in mountains, is highly concerned about the study of failure mechanisms and disaster prevention and mitigation. In August 2020, the Babaoshan cliff in Yanhe County, Guizhou collapsed and falling rocks hit agricultural vehicles on the road and damaged residents' houses below. Based on on-site investigation, three rockfall types of tension-rotating, tension-shear-falling, compression-shear exist in the study area, and the compression-shear rockfall can conform to the chain law of rockfall. The paper used the dynamic analysis software Rocpro-3D to simulate and invert the movement characteristics and impact range of rockfall at Babaoshan cliff. The results show that: 1) the hazardous zone, which is about 95 m wide and 175 m long, was formed by the rockfall at R1 and covered localized roads and houses below, with the covered probability of 20%, 17% respectively; 2) the terrains on the rockfall paths in two rockfall disaster events are mainly characterized by stepped shape and overall flat angle respectively, and the behaviors are mainly characterized by ejection and rolling respectively, meanwhile, the times to reach the road and houses were 17 s and 24.3 s, respectively, in addition, the protruding rock mass below the rockfall location gives the falling rock horizontal velocity and good movement space, which will make the falling rock move further away; 3) the different rockfall directions reflect different terrain combinations, simulation inversions reveal that different terrain combinations have significant control over the distance and shape of the rockfall trajectories. And, it was found that the more times a falling rock is rebounded, the greater the energy obtained; 4) the probabilities of falling rocks at H1, H2, H3 invading residential areas are respectively 8.67%, 20%, 19.33%, meanwhile invading road zone are respectively 10.67%, 15.33%, 9.33%. At least one point or several points stopped within the zone of the affected houses in the rockfall disaster event 2 in three prediction of the rockfall impact range, which indicates that there is a great risk that this house will continue to be affected by disasters after rockfalls occur within the steep cliff area above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threshold selection is challenging when analyzing tail data with a generalized Pareto distribution. Data below the threshold was not used in the model, resulting in incomplete characterization of the whole data. This paper applied the Gamma distribution, Weibull distribution, and lognormal distribution to fit the central data separately, and a generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) was used to analyze the tail data. In such composite models, the thresholds are estimated directly as parameters. We proposed an empirical distribution function-based parameter estimation method. The absolute value of the difference between the empirical distribution function and the composite distribution function was used as a loss function to obtain an estimate of the parameter. This parameter estimation method is suitable for complex multiparameter distributions. The estimation method based on the empirical distribution function was verified to be feasible through simulation studies. The composite model and the estimation method based on the empirical distribution function were applied to study the earthquake magnitude data to provide a reference for earthquake hazard analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are common natural disasters that cause serious damage to ecosystems and human societies. To effectively prevent and mitigate these disasters, an accurate assessment of landslide hazards is necessary. However, most traditional landslide hazard assessment methods rely on static assessment factors while ignoring the dynamic changes in landslides, which may lead to false-positive errors in the assessment results. This paper presents a novel landslide hazard assessment method for the Zagunao River basin, China. In this study, an updated landslide inventory was obtained for the Zagunao River basin using data from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and optical images. Based on this inventory, a landslide susceptibility map was developed using a random forest algorithm. Finally, an evaluation matrix was created by combining the results of deformation rates from both ascending and descending data to establish a hazard level that considers surface deformation. The method presented in this study can reflect recent landslide hazards in the region and produce dynamic assessments of regional landslide hazards. It provides a basis for the government to identify and manage high-risk areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes have great damage potential and importance in risk management and structural engineering, causing fires in buildings such as residences and commercial spaces. Post-earthquake fires (PEF) are secondary disasters that can cause material and moral destruction and loss of life. Similar to natural disasters, they show the time of occurrence and possible scenarios in places. This study aims to analyse and examine what precautions can be taken to prevent or minimize PEF through risk assessment. In this study, a literature review was conducted with the tracking method, focusing on examples from the world where the fires that occur as a secondary effect of the earthquake can cause devastating damages and significant disasters, and inferences are made by classifying the data obtained. Many factors, such as gas leaks due to earthquakes, cracks in pipelines, and short circuits in electrical installations, can cause fires. In addition, flammable liquid or combustible gas emissions and fire protection disturbances create significant fire hazards after earthquakes. In this paper, in which the causes and consequences of fires are analysed, risks, the evaluation process depending on the risks, the precautions that can be taken according to the situations that the risks will cause, and the models developed are emphasized. The research is a reference study with the expectation that there will be an increase in the number of studies examining experimental and physical PEF models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The share of wind energy in the energy mix is continuously increasing. However, a very important issue associated with its generation is the high failure rate of wind turbines. This situation particularly concerns large wind turbines, which are expensive and have a lower tolerance for system damage caused by various failures and faults. Vulnerable components include sensors, electronic control units, electrical systems, hydraulic systems, generators, gearboxes, rotor blades, and so on. As a result, significant emphasis is placed on improving the reliability, availability, and productivity of wind turbines. It is extremely important to detect and identify abnormalities as early as possible and predict potential failures and damages and the remaining useful life of components. One way to ensure turbine efficiency is to plan and implement preventive repairs. This work shows a semi-Markov model of a preventive maintenance system based on Enercon E82-2 wind turbines. The system's performance quality is evaluated based on profit over time and an asymptotic availability coefficient. The developed model establishes formulas describing the efficiency functions and formulates the conditions for the existence of extremes (maxima) of these functions. Computational examples provided at the end of the paper illustrate the obtained research results. A preventive maintenance model is developed that can be applied to wind turbine hazard prevention (determining optimal times for wind turbine preventive maintenance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling at high resolution is still rarely performed because of its high computational cost and the lack of topographical data for some areas. Despite this, such modeling has been performed for the Odra River, the second largest river in Poland. This river has a high potential for flooding, which has been severely experienced many times in history, most recently in 1997 and 2010, when floods caused large losses. Since then, many different types of activities have been executed in order to reduce the risk of flooding. The paper presents a 2D modeling concept created during these activities. Given that the river valley is up to several kilometers wide, and consists of many complex topographical features and hydrotechnical facilities, a cascade of 25 2D models in MIKE21 software was developed. It covers a 600 km long section of the Odra River and an area of 5700 km2 in total. A regular grid resolution of 4–6 m was used in the modeling. The models were applied for numerous purposes, first for the elaboration of flood hazard and flood risk maps for larger cities, and then for the verification of historic flood data and stage–discharge relations at gauge stations, as well as the verification of design discharges via flood routing. Other important uses were the evaluation of the effectiveness of flood mitigating works, including the feasibility study for the Racibórz reservoir, and the assessment of flood hazard due to embankment failure or ice jamming. Selected applications, as well as practical aspects of the model's preparation and use, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire risk assessment is a crucial step in effective fire control, playing an important role in reducing fire losses. It has remained a significant topic in the field of fire safety. To explore the research hotspots and frontier trends in fire risk assessment and to understand its macroscopic development trajectory, a sample of 1596 papers from 1976 to 2023, extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) database, was utilized to create a knowledge map. The study employed bibliometric methods, visual analysis, and content analysis to uncover the research pulse and hotspots in the field, offering insights into its future development. The findings indicate that research in fire risk assessment has demonstrated continuous growth over the past 50 years. China and the United States are the dominant research forces in the field, while India and Australia show potential as new drivers for development. Expert groups have formed in this field, with intra-institutional cooperation being the primary focus, while inter-institutional collaboration remains limited. The research outcomes exhibit multidisciplinary crossovers, exerting a significant impact on various disciplinary domains. The research hotspots primarily revolve around investigating fire and explosion accidents, assessing the vulnerability of fire subjects, and identifying potential fire hazards. The application of artificial intelligence technology is identified as a pivotal tool for future development. However, to achieve substantial progress, it is important to enhance the importance accorded to fire risk assessment, foster multinational and cross-institutional cooperation, and prioritize research innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Control of OHS risks in the mining industry has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. Because of their great diversity in a complex system, hazards can be difficult to identify and classify, especially when system components interact. Risk cannot be managed successfully without comprehensive investigation of all its aspects. A coherent and integrated classification for identifying and categorizing all hazards is currently lacking in mining. We propose an integrated system classification of OHS hazards in mining based on our review of 44 studies retrieved using PRISMA. Considering Canadian and international standards, regulations and conventions, new hazard categories are proposed and hazard prevention is discussed from 12 perspectives: physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, accident and psychosocial risks, as well as policy, legislation, management, design, geography, and uncertainty, with reference to each of the four phases of a typical mine life cycle, the hazards were shown in a portrait. This paper provides suitable categories based on rational data for creating a portrait in order to OHS hazards prevention in life cycle activity in mine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern supply chains comprise an increasing number of actors which deploy different information technology systems that capture information of a diverse nature and diverse sources (from sensors to order information). While the benefits of the automatic exchange of information between these systems have been recognized and have led to their interconnection, protecting the whole supply chain from potential attacks is a challenging issue given the attack proliferation reported in the literature. In this paper, we present the FISHY platform, which anticipates protecting the whole supply chain from potential attacks by (a) adopting novel technologies and approaches including machine learning-based tools to detect security threats and recommend mitigation policies and (b) employing blockchain-based tools to provide evidence of the captured events and suggested policies. This platform is also easily expandable to protect against additional attacks in the future. We experiment with this platform in the farm-to-fork supply chain to prove its operation and capabilities. The results show that the FISHY platform can effectively be used to protect the supply chain and offers high flexibility to its users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the discourses and practices of design can be applied to both mitigate the damaging impacts of (un-)natural disasters and guide resilient post-disaster recovery. Integrated with systems analysis, design can provide both an innovative window for understanding the complexities of disaster-risk reduction and recovery, as well as a conceptual bridge to new ways of building socio-economic and physical resilience in disaster-affected communities. However, the skills of key systems and design thinkers, such as architects, urban planners, and landscape architects, are seldom employed, despite their demonstrated capacity to work with disaster-prone or -impacted communities to develop integrated spatial responses to guide both disaster-risk reduction and long-term rebuilding after a disaster. Indeed, there has been little focused investigation of the potential contributions of design per se in developing strategies for disaster-risk reduction and recovery. Similarly, there has been little attention in design education to complementing the creative problem-solving skills of the designer with the contextual and systemic understandings of disaster management and disaster-resilient design. This paper addresses these omissions in both disaster management and design education though a review of research on design contributions to disaster issues and provides a case study of the curriculum and pedagogical approaches appropriate to build capacity for enhancing this contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the last decades have seen a clear shift in emphasis from managing natural hazards to managing risk, the majority of natural-hazard risk research still focuses on single hazards. Internationally, there are calls for more attention for multi-hazards and multi-risks. Within the European Union (EU), the concepts of multi-hazard and multi-risk assessment and management have taken centre stage in recent years. In this perspective paper, we outline several key developments in multi-(hazard-)risk research in the last decade, with a particular focus on the EU. We present challenges for multi-(hazard-)risk management as outlined in several research projects and papers. We then present a research agenda for addressing these challenges. We argue for an approach that addresses multi-(hazard-)risk management through the lens of sustainability challenges that cut across sectors, regions, and hazards. In this approach, the starting point is a specific sustainability challenge, rather than an individual hazard or sector, and trade-offs and synergies are examined across sectors, regions, and hazards. We argue for in-depth case studies in which various approaches for multi-(hazard-)risk management are co-developed and tested in practice. Finally, we present a new pan-European research project in which our proposed research agenda will be implemented, with the goal of enabling stakeholders to develop forward-looking disaster risk management pathways that assess trade-offs and synergies of various strategies across sectors, hazards, and spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and their installation are essential to determine a general practice for specialized risk assessment, which reduces the danger linked and the solutions to avoid those hazards, which call mitigation strategies. This paper aims to present the risk assessment and mitigation strategies for large-scale Solar PV systems in developing countries. To achieve this, complaints-related data has been collected from well-known companies providing Solar PV to industrial and residential consumers. This paper presents insights on the repetitive complaints, potential risks identified, and their severity along with probability. Further, risk mitigation strategies to resolve these complaints timely and significantly are listed by industry experts. Overall, the study briefed each risk, its detail, and classified the complaints in three different companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most severe meteorological disasters, making rapid and accurate track forecasts crucial for disaster prevention and mitigation. Because TC tracks are affected by various factors (the steering flow, the thermal structure of the underlying surface, and the atmospheric circulation), their trajectories present highly complex nonlinear behavior. Deep learning has many advantages in simulating nonlinear systems. In this paper, based on deep-learning technology, we explore the movement of TCs in the northwestern Pacific from 1979 to 2021, divided into training (1979–2014), validation (2015–2018), and test sets (2019–2021), and we create 6–72 h TC track forecasts. Only historical trajectory data are used as input for evaluating the forecasts of the following three recurrent neural networks utilized: recurrent neural network (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and gated recurrent unit (GRU) models. The GRU approach performed best; to further improve forecast accuracy, a model combining GRU and a convolutional neural network (CNN) called GRU_CNN is proposed to capture the characteristics that vary with time. By adding reanalysis data of the steering flow, sea surface temperatures, and geopotential height around the cyclone, we can extract sufficient information on the historical trajectory features and three-dimensional spatial features. The results show that GRU_CNN outperforms other deep-learning models without CNN layers. Furthermore, by analyzing three additional environmental factors through control experiments, it can be concluded that the historical steering flow of TCs plays a key role, especially for short-term predictions within 24 h, while sea surface temperatures and geopotential height can gradually improve the 24–72 h forecast. The average distance errors at 6 and 12 h are 17.22 and 43.90 km, respectively. Compared with the 6 and 12 h forecast results (27.57 and 59.09 km) of the Central Meteorological Observatory, the model proposed herein is suitable for short-term forecasting of TC tracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is located in the intersection area of two seismic zones. Due to this special geographical location, earthquake disasters occur frequently in China. Earthquake emergency rescue work is one of the key construction works of disaster prevention and mitigation in China. This paper mainly studies the earthquake disaster rescue model based on the complex adaptive system theory and establishes the earthquake disaster rescue model by analyzing the complex adaptive system theory and combining the earthquake rescue process. In this paper, through the task allocation mechanism task, the disaster rescue task is divided into simple task and complex task, and the executive task subject is divided into single task subject and multitask subject. On the basis of considering the shortest emergency rescue time goal and the goal of maximizing the deployment utility of rescue team, the reasonable deployment of a rescue team is realized through a complex adaptive system, that is, the deployment utility of the rescue team is maximized. In this paper, the simulation experiment and comparison of the earthquake disaster rescue model based on the complex adaptive system theory are carried out. The experimental results show that the model used in this paper is better than the other two models in terms of algorithm convergence, rescue number, and overall score; in different scenarios, the relative survival probability of the model in this paper is 58.92%, 67.85%, and 77.46%, and the proportion of the wounded rescued is 66.31%, 76.45%, and 83.06%, which were higher than those of the other two models. The earthquake disaster rescue model based on the complex adaptive system theory proposed in this paper provides an effective theoretical basis and method system for postdisaster emergency rescue decision making and enhances and improves the emergency response ability to deal with large-scale geological disaster events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a follow-up to the paper The Effects of System Grounding, Bus Insulation and Probability on Arc Flash Hazard Reduction—The Missing Links. In that paper, system grounding and bus insulation were considered a means of reducing the probability of an arc flash incident by approximately two orders of magnitude. In September 2013, additional testing was conducted on a low-voltage motor control center (LVMCC) with the expectation that engineering enhancements such as insulated vertical bus, high resistance grounding, and other techniques could be implemented to further reduce the probability of an arc flash incident. The testing performed was with faults initiated in locations typically found in operating petrochemical facilities, in LVMCCs, with the starter unit door open. This paper discusses the findings of testing on real-world electrical equipment in an effort to further understand and minimize the probability of an arc flash incident. This paper reviews the physics of the arcing fault and how ignition wire, geometry, and the number of anode/cathode pairs all contribute to arcing fault energy and personnel exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Featured Application: This paper presents a procedure for assessing—at the municipal scale—the level of risk (or attention required) of stretches of roads exposed to the activity of existing or potential slow-moving landslides. This procedure can be applied to support studies of road networks over large areas aimed at the prioritization of risk-mitigation measures and the identification of road sections requiring further investigation. Slow-moving landslides are widespread natural hazards that can affect social and economic activities, causing damage to structures and infrastructures. This paper aims at proposing a procedure to analyze road damage induced by slow-moving landslides based on the joint use of landslide susceptibility maps, a road-damage database developed using Google Street View images and ground-displacement measurements derived from the interferometric processing of satellite SAR images. The procedure is applied to the municipalities of Vaglio Basilicata and Trivigno in the Basilicata region (southern Italy) following a matrix-based approach. First, a susceptibility analysis is carried out at the municipal scale, using data from landslide inventories and thematic information available over the entire municipalities. Then, the susceptibility index, the class of movement and the level of damage are calculated for the territorial units corresponding to the road corridors under investigation. Finally, the road networks are divided into stretches, each one characterized by a specific level of risk (or attention required) following the aggregation of the information provided by the performed analyses. The results highlight the importance of integrating all of these different approaches and data for obtaining quantitative information on the spatial and temporal behavior of slow-moving landslides affecting road networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: On September 5, 2022, an Ms 6.8 earthquake occurred in Luding County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China. The casualties and economic losses caused by the earthquake are huge. Most of the landslides triggered by this earthquake are small and medium-sized rock collapses and destructive debris flows, with a small number of large-scale landslides. Results: There are 5007 coseismic landslides in the Luding earthquake VII-degree area and above, with a total area of 17.36 km2. The landslides are generally distributed along the NW-SE direction. The highest landslide area density is 13.8%, and the highest point density of the landslide is 35.73 km2. High-density area is mainly concentrated in the IX-degree area and the northeast side of the seismogenic fault. Coseismic landslides are more likely to develop in the area with the slope more than 40°, the slope direction of 67.5-112.5 degree, and vegetation coverage of 40–50%. More landslides are developed in granite areas and forest areas. The closer distance to active faults, the more the coseismic landslides develop. The correlation between coseismic landslide development and the distance from the active faults is better than that between coseismic landslide development and the distance from the seismogenic faults. Conclusion: The landslide database used in this paper is the most perfect at present, and the research results have also been verified by fieldwork. This is also the first applied study of this landslide inventory, which indirectly confirmed the accuracy of the inventory. The results obtained in the manuscript will provide an important guideline for future disaster prevention and mitigation in southwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are geological disasters that can cause great damage to natural and social environments. Landslide hazard assessments are crucial for disaster prevention and mitigation. Conventional regional landslide hazard assessment results are static and do not take into account the dynamic changes in landslides; thus, areas with landslides that have been treated and stabilized are often still identified as high-risk areas. Therefore, a new hazard assessment method is proposed in this paper that combines the deformation rate results obtained by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) with the results of conventional hazard assessments to obtain the hazard assessment level while considering the deformation factor of the study area, with Zhouqu, Gansu Province, selected as the case study. First, to obtain the latest landslide inventory map of Zhouqu, the hazard assessment results of the study area were obtained based on a neural network and statistical analysis, and an innovative combination of the deformation rate results of the steepest slope direction from the ascending and descending data were obtained by InSAR technology. Finally, the hazard assessment level considering the deformation factor of Zhouqu was obtained. The method proposed in this paper allows for a near-term hazard assessment of the study area, which in turn enables dynamic regional landslide hazard assessments and improves the efficiency of authorities when conducting high-risk-area identification and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood risk is expected to increase in many regions worldwide due to rapid urbanization and climate change if adequate risk-mitigation (or climate-change-adaptation) measures are not implemented. However, the exact benefits of these measures remain unknown or inadequately quantified for potential future events in some flood-prone areas such as Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, which this paper addresses. This study examines the present (2021) and future (2031) flood risk in Kathmandu Valley, considering two flood occurrence cases (with 100-year and 1000-year mean return periods) and using four residential exposure inventories representing the current urban system (Scenario A) or near-future development trajectories (Scenarios B, C, D) that Kathmandu Valley could experience. The findings reveal substantial mean absolute financial losses (EUR 473 million and 775 million in repair and reconstruction costs) and mean loss ratios (2.8 % and 4.5 %) for the respective flood occurrence cases in current times if the building stock's quality is assumed to have remained the same as in 2011 (Scenario A). Under a "no change" pathway for 2031 (Scenario B), where the vulnerability of the expanding building stock remains the same as in 2011, mean absolute financial losses would increase by 14 %–16 % over those of Scenario A. However, a minimum (0.20 m) elevation of existing residential buildings located in the floodplains and the implementation of flood-hazard-informed land-use planning for 2031 (Scenario C) could decrease the mean absolute financial losses of the flooding occurrences by 9 %–13 % and the corresponding mean loss ratios by 23 %–27 %, relative to those of Scenario A. Moreover, an additional improvement of the building stock's vulnerability that accounts for the multi-hazard-prone nature of the valley (by means of structural retrofitting and building code enforcement) for 2031 (Scenario D) could further decrease the mean loss ratios by 24 %–28 % relative to those of Scenario A. The largest mean loss ratios computed in the four scenarios are consistently associated with populations of the highest incomes, which are largely located in the floodplains. In contrast, the most significant benefits of risk mitigation (i.e., largest reduction in mean absolute financial losses or mean loss ratios between scenarios) are experienced by populations of the lowest incomes. This paper's main findings can inform decision makers about the benefits of investing in forward-looking multi-hazard risk-mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyber-physical-social computing system integrates the interactions between cyber, physical, and social spaces by fusing information from these spaces. The result of this fusion can be used to drive many applications in areas such as intelligent transportation, smart cities, and healthcare. Situation Awareness was initially used in military services to provide knowledge of what is happening in a combat zone but has been used in many other areas such as disaster mitigation. Various applications have been developed to provide situation awareness using either IoT sensors or social media information spaces and, more recently, using both IoT sensors and social media information spaces. The information from these spaces is heterogeneous and, at their intersection, is sparse. In this paper, we propose a highly scalable, novel Cyber-physical-social Awareness (CPSA) platform that provides situation awareness by using and intersecting information from both IoT sensors and social media. By combining and fusing information from both social media and IoT sensors, the CPSA platform provides more comprehensive and accurate situation awareness than any other existing solutions that rely only on data from social media and IoT sensors. The CPSA platform achieves that by semantically describing and integrating the information extracted from sensors and social media spaces and intersects this information for enriching situation awareness. The CPSA platform uses user-provided situation models to refine and intersect cyber, physical, and social information. The CPSA platform analyses social media and IoT data using pretrained machine learning models deployed in the cloud, and provides coordination between information sources and fault tolerance. The paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the CPSA platform. The evaluation of the CPSA platform is measured in terms of capabilities such as the ability to semantically describe and integrate heterogenous information, fault tolerance, and time constraints such as processing time and throughput when performing real-world experiments. The evaluation shows that the CPSA platform can reliably process and intersect with large volumes of IoT sensor and social media data to provide enhanced situation awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the applications of supplemental dampers for seismic hazard mitigation, the supporting braces for the dampers are considered an important component for ensuring an efficient energy dissipation in the structure. Despite their importance, studies on the effects of the brace stiffness and the velocity exponent in the case of nonlinear viscous dampers are rather limited. In this paper, a numerical time-stepping method is developed for computing the seismic response of the structure with supporting braces and nonlinear viscous dampers. Using the proposed method, effects of the parameters of the nonlinear damper-brace systems are investigated, using first a single-story structure, followed by multi-story buildings. Results indicated that the design parameters for the dampers and supporting braces may be combined in numerous ways to satisfy a given set of structural performance objectives, but the brace stiffness can be minimized to achieve design efficiency in the range of velocity exponent commonly used for seismic applications of nonlinear viscous dampers. Results also indicated that for a set brace stiffness, if the dampers are optimally designed, the velocity exponent has an insignificant effect on the structural seismic performance objectives considered in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stadium is a wind-sensitive structure, and the tornado has a greater damage to the stadium. The Ward tornado generating device was used to simulate the wind load characteristics of the stadium during tornado action in order to investigate the wind load characteristics of the stadium. The results of this paper are compared with the experimental results to verify the accuracy of the simulation method. The wind load characteristics of the stadium and its most vulnerable location during a tornado are ascertained by examining the wind pressure coefficient and wind speed distribution law of the stadium's upper and lower surfaces with different swirl ratio. The influence of uniform wind and wind profile on the wind load of the stadium is explored by comparing and analyzing the wind pressure coefficient of the stadium surface with and without wind profile at the entrance of the wind field. The impact of varying ground roughness on the stadium is compared in order to ascertain how it affects the wind speed, stadium wind pressure, and vortex core radius. The vorticity of the stadium in the tornado wind field with different swirl ratios was compared and analyzed, and the influence of the stadium on the vorticity development of the wind field was explored. This study reveals the effects of swirl ratio, ground roughness and wind profile on the wind pressure, wind speed and vorticity of the stadium under tornadoes, and determines the most vulnerable location and the most unfavorable factors. The above research is helpful to provide reference for disaster prevention and mitigation of stadium structure design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes an assessment of the coastal erosion hazard of the Odisha state with the use of 'Coastal Hazard Wheel' methodology which is a multi-hazard assessment as well as a management tool in a changing global climate. This study analyses the coastal environment to assess the vulnerability profile of coastal erosion by using bio-geophysical parameters such as geological layout, tidal range, exposure to waves, balance or deficit of sediments, characteristics of flora and fauna and exposure to storm climate. These are also used in analysing climate change hazards of the coast which are inherent to an area like saline flooding, gradual inundation, ecosystem disruption and salt water intrusion. CHW framework has generated information about the degree to which coastal erosion is inherent in a particular coastal location along the coast. This application has used remote sensing data from the public domain and a GIS approach to screen the problem with an appropriate scale as suitable for regional and national planning purposes with a management perspective because of limited data availability. The study has generated coastal erosion data and maps for the 480 km of the coastline dividing the coast in to 14 different morphological segments. Assessment of this hazard shows that 50 percent of Odisha's coastline is vulnerable to a high or very high inherent hazard of erosion, 45 percent exhibits a lower level of erosion presence and 5 percent is moderately vulnerable to erosion. This study has revealed increasing magnitude of coastal erosion than previous assessments by different researchers which were mostly based on coastal vulnerability indices. The study also identifies a number of possible erosion hazard management and mitigation options which can be used depending on their location specific field data and coastal characteristics. The finding of the study is significant in view of its contribution towards a first step in understanding coastal erosion at the regional level for their management. However, input of local data and manmade structures along the coast in the model would enhance the results for the site-specific mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vulnerability zoning of the urban ground subsidence in Tangshan City was investigated in this study, taking into account factors such as the geological lithology, rainfall, population density, road network density, seismic acceleration, and river network density. The main research of this paper is slow land subsidence affecting large territories. A single-factor analysis was conducted using ArcGIS, followed by a grid-weighted overlay analysis. Values were assigned to each factor to generate a vulnerability zoning map. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and information value evaluation model were then employed to assess the ground subsidence risk. An evaluation index system was established, comprising the evaluation objective layer, criterion layer, and indicator layer. An evaluation judgment matrix for the ground subsidence risk was constructed, with the calculation of the weight and information value of each risk evaluation indicator, and the total information value of the study area. Four risk levels were determined: high, moderate, relatively low, and low. The findings demonstrate the scientific validity, rationality, and practical applicability of the vulnerability zoning research and risk assessment method for addressing the ground subsidence in Tangshan City. This study contributes to the understanding and management of the ground subsidence risk, providing a robust framework for urban planning and disaster mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades, natural hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, storms, droughts, and cyclones, have increased in frequency and severity, influenced by climate change and population growth. These natural hazards can become sudden-onset disasters, causing human losses and property damages that affect economic stability and growth. Although there is a pressing need for risk decrease and adaptation strategies to these unexpected events, targeted natural hazard insurance would be a valuable tool to counteract governmental and individual consequences. This paper summarizes an overview of risk assessment and mitigation strategies based on geological, geomorphological, and meteorological factors. The study includes an examination of monitoring systems for movement and gas emissions, risk and emergency maps, and highlighting the vulnerability of different areas at national and regional levels. Furthermore, the paper addresses the importance of promoting comprehensive geological and geotechnical knowledge among citizens of every socio-economical group and proposing the tools to effectively deliver the message, aiming at increasing the willingness for natural hazard insurance at both individual and governmental scales for human and property protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing reliance on cyber-physical systems (CPSs) in critical domains such as healthcare, smart grids, and intelligent transportation systems necessitates robust security measures to protect against cyber threats. Among these threats, blackhole and greyhole attacks pose significant risks to the availability and integrity of CPSs. The current detection and mitigation approaches often struggle to accurately differentiate between legitimate and malicious behavior, leading to ineffective protection. This paper introduces Gini-index and blockchain-based Blackhole/Greyhole RPL (GBG-RPL), a novel technique designed for efficient detection and mitigation of blackhole and greyhole attacks in smart health monitoring CPSs. GBG-RPL leverages the analytical prowess of the Gini index and the security advantages of blockchain technology to protect these systems against sophisticated threats. This research not only focuses on identifying anomalous activities but also proposes a resilient framework that ensures the integrity and reliability of the monitored data. GBG-RPL achieves notable improvements as compared to another state-of-the-art technique referred to as BCPS-RPL, including a 7.18% reduction in packet loss ratio, an 11.97% enhancement in residual energy utilization, and a 19.27% decrease in energy consumption. Its security features are also very effective, boasting a 10.65% improvement in attack-detection rate and an 18.88% faster average attack-detection time. GBG-RPL optimizes network management by exhibiting a 21.65% reduction in message overhead and a 28.34% decrease in end-to-end delay, thus showing its potential for enhanced reliability, efficiency, and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of natural hazards on education systems are an understudied subject. This paper conducts a systematic review of the literature on multiple hazards and school education to explore hazard-induced disruptions in school education and the determinants of its vulnerability and resilience. The PRISMA framework is adopted to examine how indicators of vulnerability are clustered into various components for school vulnerability assessment. As the involvement of school children is vitally important in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and management at the local, regional, and global levels for resilience development in school education, the study also reviews school children's participation in initiatives from various international organizations. The review results show that participation by children in DRR is generally weak due to the authoritarian tendency of society and lack of trust in the ability of children. It is observed that damaged infrastructure causes school closures for prolonged periods, leading to discontinuity of education. The review also highlights the lack of policies in implementing the Comprehensive School Safety Framework and the role of social networks in building resilience at schools. Future research should provide clear guidelines on children's participation in DRR and the linkage between disruptions of school education and critical structural damage due to disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joshimath has received much attention for its massive ground subsidence at the beginning of the year. Rapid urbanization and its unique geographical location may have been one of the factors contributing to the occurrence of this geological disaster. In high mountain valley areas, the complex occurrence mechanism and diverse disaster patterns of geological hazards highlight the inadequacy of manual monitoring. To address this problem, the inversion of deformation of the Joshimath surface in multiple directions can be achieved by multidimensional InSAR techniques. Therefore, in this paper, the multidimensional SBAS-InSAR technique was used to process the lift-track Sentinel-1 data from 2020 to 2023 to obtain the two-dimensional vertical and horizontal deformation rates and time series characteristics of the Joshimath ground surface. To discover the causes of deformation and its correlation with anthropogenic activities and natural disasters by analyzing the spatial and temporal evolution of surface deformation. The results show that the area with the largest cumulative deformation is located in the northeastern part of the town, with a maximum cumulative subsidence of 271.2 mm and a cumulative horizontal movement of 336.5 mm. The spatial distribution of surface deformation is based on the lower part of the hill and develops towards the upper part of the hill, showing a trend of expansion from the bottom to the top. The temporal evolution is divided into two phases: gentle to rapid, and it is tentatively concluded that the decisive factor that caused the significant change in the rate of surface deformation and the early onset of the geological subsidence hazard was triggered by the 4.7 magnitude earthquake that struck near the town on 11 September 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antenna mast structures are usually set on top of modern super high-rising structures to meet the requirements of communication and aesthetics, and such buildings are highly sensitive to horizontal loads that can greatly increase the acceleration and displacement responses during their life-cycles owing to the inherent high flexibility and low damping. As a result, the antenna masts with small mass and stiffness may suffer serious whiplash effect under the earthquake or wind excitations. In this paper, a multi-hazard protective system with hybrid isolated and energy-dissipated devices of isolation bearing, viscous damper and mild steel damper is presented for the typical inserted antenna mast structures on super high-rising structures. To determine the optimum parameters of the hybrid system that maximize the structural control efficiency under a single hazard of earthquake or wind load, as well as the coupled conditions of these two hazards, an optimization method based on the genetic algorithm is developed for the presented hybrid control system to resist various hazard scenarios. Objective functions are further proposed to penalize the accelerations and relative displacements at the top of the antenna mast structure. Taking a super-tall TV tower as an example, the OpenSeesPy platform is employed to establish the finite element (FE) model. The numerical results show that the optimization scheme for the hybrid energy-dissipated antenna mast system under a single hazard is not suitable for the other hazard condition, while the optimized results for the multi-hazard condition can give consideration to the effects of both earthquake and wind. Moreover, the sensitive analysis is performed to investigate the effects of each parameter of the hybrid system on the objective functions. It can be concluded that the proposed hybrid system performs well under earthquake, wind and coupled multi-hazards, which is of practical significance for the vibration control of antenna masts on super high-rising structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1999, Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors (TEC) implemented the Geohazard Risk Management Program (GRMP) to identify, assess, monitor, and prioritize the mitigation of risk resulting from geohazard events at specific sites along the provincial highway network. The GRMP was developed to address a variety of geohazard types including rockfall hazards that occur at natural and constructed (cut) highway backslopes. An evaluation of various methods for the condition assessment of rockfall geohazards, including TEC's current GRMP risk rating system, has been completed with the intent of better understanding the suitability of each method as TEC transitions to a formalized GAM program. The GRMP risk rating values for selected rockfall geohazard sites along highway corridors in Alberta were compared to values developed from the results of five established rock mass and rock slope rating systems. The results of this study demonstrate that TEC's current GRMP risk rating system is a viable tool for the condition assessment and performance monitoring of rockfall geohazards, which could be utilized within a formalized GAM program, further benefitting from years of recorded application in Alberta. Of the other rating systems tested, the rockfall hazard rating system (RHRS) showed a strong correlation with the GRMP risk rating while Q-Slope, the Geological Strength Index (GSI) and Rock Mass Rating (RMR) correlation were marginal but displayed a potential for use as condition assessment tools. The work presented in this paper provides the first evaluation of rock slope rating systems for rockfall hazards along corridors in Alberta, directly comparing them to the slope performance as observed by TEC in a quantitative manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazard threats have grown as a result of climate change, fast demographic development, and major urbanization. Devastating floods have occurred in several areas of the world recently, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is located in a region with a dry environment. In arid or semi-arid regions, rapidly forming flash floods associated with debris flowing down over dry water courses leading to a potential threat to both lives and property. Being located at the coastal plain of western Saudi Arabia, Jeddah City has witnessed an unexpected amount of rainfall events in recent years. Such extreme rainfall events, integrated with other factors, namely topography, land use, surface runoff, etc., have led to flood generation, which is alarming indeed. Herein, this paper addresses the varying climatic classifications of the Kingdom, its risk and vulnerability, followed by reasoning about the impact of flash flood events and the associated casualties and property losses. Further, it reports about the existing strategies of the government and proposes a systematic way forward on how to alleviate such events in future. Thus, risk variables have been discovered and integrated in the context of climate change and rising anthropogenic strain on coastal communities to give planners and decision makers tools to assure effective and appropriate flood risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shunyi fault in the Beijing Plain region is a significant late Pleistocene active fault. The Beijing Capital International Airport ( BCIA) is situated within the central segment of the Shunyi Fault. Since 2010, ground fissures on the airport's runway have progressively worsened, with a maximum vertical displacement difference of up to 20 cm, severely affecting airport safety. Presently, the impact of Shunyi fault activity on the ground fissures at the BCIA is primarily described qualitatively. This paper, based on research regarding the geometric structure of the Shunyi Fault, Quaternary activity, and investigations of the ground fissures at the Capital Airport, employs the fault dislocation model to quantitatively analyze the influence of the Shunyi Fault's creepsliding activity as well as the 1996 Shunyi ML 4.5 earthquake on the formation of airport ground fissures. The study also discusses the increasing risk of ground fissure hazards in the event of a potential strong earthquake along the Shunyi fault in the future. The preliminary results suggest that with a vertical activity rate of 0.6 mm / year, 46 years of Shunyi Fault's creep-sliding activity results in differential subsidence of no more than 2.5 cm on both sides of the airport ground fissures, contributing to approximately 20% of the formation and development of these fissures. The impact of the Shunyi ML 4.5 earthquake on the formation of airport ground fissures is minimal. However, if a future M 7.0 earthquake occurs on the Shunyi fault, the estimated maximum land differential subsidence between two sides of the fault could reach 104 cm, increasing the risk of airport ground fissure disasters by a factor of five. Ground differential settlement due to groundwater extraction from the upper and deeper layers of the Shunyi fault's hanging wall contributes about 70% to the formation and development of airport ground fissures, remaining the primary factor. The study's results provide essential scientific references for precise prevention and control of ground fissure disasters at BCIA. Furthermore, to further reveal the causes and mechanisms of delayed geological disasters along the Shunyi fault, such as ground fissures and land differential subsidence, it is recommended to implement dynamic monitoring of cross-fault crustal displacement or deformation at crucial segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to introduce a numerical technique for forecasting the hazard caused by the disaster chain of landslide blocking river-dam breach floods through an integration of the distinct element method (DEM) and a well-balanced finite volume type shallow water model (SFLOW). A toppling slope in a reservoir area, the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, was chosen for the study. Creep has been observed in the potential instability area, and a possible sliding surface was identified based on the data collected from adits and boreholes. Catastrophic rock avalanches may be triggered after reservoir impoundment, and the associated landslide disaster chain needed to be predicted. First, the landslide blocking river process was modeled by the DEM using the three-dimensional particle flow code (PFC 3D). The landslide duration, runout distance, and kinematic characteristics were obtained. In addition, the landslide dam and barrier lake were constructed. Then, the cascading dam breach flood propagation was simulated using the self-developed SFLOW. The flow velocity, inundation depth, and area were obtained. The hazard maps derived from the combined numerical technique provided a quantitative reference for risk mitigation. The influences of two involved parameters on the final hazard-affected area are discussed herein. It is expected that the presented model will be applied in more prediction cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of large cities are located near poorly understood faults that have not generated a significant earthquake in recent history. The Lembang Fault is one such fault located near the city of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia. The slip rate on this fault is debated, with estimates ranging from 6 to 1.95–3.45 mm yr -1 , derived from a GNSS (global navigation satellite system) campaign and geological measurements respectively. In this paper we measure the surface deformation across the Bandung region and resolve the slip rate across the Lembang Fault using radar interferometry (InSAR – interferometric synthetic aperture radar) analysis of 6 years of Sentinel-1 satellite data and continuous GNSS measurements across the fault. Our slip rate estimate for the fault is 4.7 mm yr -1 , with the shallow portions of the fault creeping at 2.2 mm yr -1. Previous studies estimated the return period of large earthquakes on the fault to be between 170–670 years. Assuming simplified fault geometries and a reasonable estimate of the seismogenic depth we derive an estimated moment deficit equivalent to magnitude 6.6–7.0 earthquakes, indicating that the fault poses a very real hazard to the local population. Using the Global Earthquake Model OpenQuake engine we calculate ground motions for these two earthquake scenarios and estimate that 1.9–2.7 million people within the Bandung metropolitan region would be exposed to ground shaking greater than 0.3 g. This study highlights the importance of identifying active faults, understanding their past activity, and measuring the current strain rates of smaller crustal active faults located near large cities in seismic zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 6 February 2023, East Anatolia was devastated by two major earthquakes resulting in hundreds of thousands of collapses and tens of thousands of human casualties. This paper investigates the factors related to building properties and earthquake environmental effects (EEEs) that contributed to the building damage grade and distribution in southeastern Turkey. In regards to the building construction properties, the loose enforcement of the building code, the random urban planning solutions and the poor construction standards are the main construction deficiencies that led to one of the largest disasters in Turkey's recent history. Regarding geological factors, the triggering of primary and secondary EEEs largely shaped the grade and distribution of damage. Where coseismic surface ruptures intersected with the built environment, heavy to very heavy structural damage was observed. This was evident in many cases along the ruptured segments of the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ). Liquefaction observed close to waterbodies caused damage typical of building foundation load-bearing capacity loss. The earthquake-triggered landslides affected mainly mountainous and semi-mountainous settlements characterized with pre-earthquake high related susceptibility. The high susceptibility to generation of EEEs was extensively confirmed in many cases resulting in extensive damage. The provided information highlights the importance of such studies for hazard mitigation and disaster risk reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern and smart cities are significantly vulnerable to natural hazard, and their functionality is based on resilient infrastructure systems. In particular, seismic resilience may be considered the ability to deliver services during and after hazard events. Therefore, it is fundamental to identify the most critical components within a system, especially when multiple infrastructure systems are interdependent. The paper aims to propose a novel methodology that consider interconnected infrastructures to assess seismic resilience that may be defined as a function that depends on time, and the different components are considered the functional dimensions. The proposed methodology may be applied for several typologies of infrastructures, specifically looking at the seismic resilience analyses related to transportation systems. A case study has been considered in order to apply the proposed formulation and to demonstrate the importance of considering interdependency in the assessment of the seismic resilience. Many stakeholders (infrastructure owners, public administrations, decision makers) may be interested in applying the methodology that could be used to study several applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]