THE CRISIS PLATFORM: A CROSS-BORDER PLATFORM FOR RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

Abstract

This paper aims to describe the CRISIS web-based platform (WBP) in all its parts and functionalities. The platform is the main result of the two-year EU-funded project CRISIS (Comprehensive RISk assessment of basic services and transport InfraStructure). It has been developed by EUCENTRE (European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering) using the most up-to-date web programming frameworks and technologies. The CRISIS WBP is a user-friendly tool intended to support disaster and emergency management authorities in case of earthquakes and/or seismo-induced landslides in the cross-border region of Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece. It has been designed to collect, organise, and visualise for the project target area: i) the exposure data of educational facilities, health facilities, and bridges; ii) the seismic and landslide hazard data; iii) the earthquake damage scenarios (calculated both for selected historical events and in real-time); and iv) the landslide risk scenarios related to the considered exposure dataset. The tool also allows the identification of alternative routes to the nearest available safe facilities, if the main one cannot be used due to damage to the transport infrastructure following a seismic event. This feature can be particularly useful for rescuers who have to intervene promptly after damaging earthquakes. In addition to supporting emergency management, the CRISIS platform can also be used to identify the most vulnerable assets and prioritise actions to increase the resilience of the project target area. As a case study, two earthquakes that affected the cities of Ohrid and Valandovo in 1911 and 1931, respectively, have been simulated. The results of these simulations, also in terms of emergency management (e.g., how to get to the nearest hospitals in the cross-border areas), are presented in detail hereinafter.