TORONTO – Kristy Tiampo was not surprised when a major earthquake struck on Tuesday near Los Angeles. Almost ten years ago, Professor Tiampo co-authored a scientific paper identifying earthquake hotspots in California. Hotspots are locations her research identified as the most likely to experience a strong earthquake over the next ten years. Since that time 23 of the 25 largest earthquakes that have struck were in locations she identified, including Tuesday�s earthquake near Los Angeles.
Dr. Tiampo observed, �We have made great strides in the science of identifying areas where there is a higher risk of earthquake damage over the near-term. Indeed, in areas where high quality observations are available we were successful in anticipating all of the strong earthquakes that have struck California in recent years.�
Professor Tiampo is the NSERC & Benfield/ICLR Chair in Earthquake Hazard Assessment at the University of Western Ontario. She is a prolific author, and is an international leader in research focused on understanding and identifying earthquake hotspots in Canada, California and other locations around the world.
Chris Parish of the Benfield Group, the world�s leading reinsurance and risk intemediary, said, �Benfield supports world-class researchers like Dr. Tiampo because advances in hazard research have great potential to save lives and reduce the risk of property destruction. This science will support improved risk management.�
Paul Kovacs, who co-ordinates the hazard research effort of the Canadian insurance community through the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) states that, �Professor Tiampo is remarkably successful in her capacity to anticipate earthquakes. Advancements in the science of identifying earthquake hotspots are important new tools to support decision makers seeking to prioritize their public and private investments in seismic protection.�
Canada�s insurers appreciate and actively support, through ICLR, world-class hazard safety research led by Dr. Tiampo and others at universities across Canada.
About ICLR
Established in 1998 by Canada�s property and casualty insurers, ICLR is an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Toronto and at The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. ICLR is a centre of excellence for disaster loss prevention research and education. ICLR�s research staff are internationally recognized for pioneering work in a number of fields including wind and seismic engineering, atmospheric sciences, water resources engineering and economics. Multi-disciplined scientific research provides a foundation for ICLR�s work to build communities more resilient to disasters. Ongoing funding for the Institute is provided by Canada�s insurance community. Visit www.iclr.org.
