Academic Appointments


  • Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council, Civil and Environmental Engineering

All Publications


  • Evolution of seismic risk management for insurance over the past 30 years EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING VIBRATION Shah, H. C., Dong, W., Stojanovski, P., Chen, A. 2018; 17 (1): 11–18
  • Catastrophe Micro-Insurance for Those at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Bridging the Last Mile 14th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (14ECEE) Shah, H. C. SPRINGER. 2010: 549–561
  • Catastrophe Risk Management in Developing Countries and the Last Mile International Conference on the 250th Anniversary of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake Shah, H. C. SPRINGER. 2009: 111–120
  • The last mile: earthquake risk mitigation assistance in developing countries Discussion Meeting on Extreme Natural Hazards Shah, H. C. ROYAL SOC. 2006: 2183–89

    Abstract

    Over the past few decades, we have seen many joint programmes between developed countries and developing countries to help the latter in managing their earthquake risks. These programmes span the whole spectrum of disciplines from seismology and geology to engineering, social science and economics. Many of these programmes have been effective in raising awareness, in urging governments to work towards risk reduction and in spawning an 'industry' of disaster management in many of the developing countries. However, even as these efforts proceed, we have seen death and destruction due to earthquake after earthquake in developing countries, strongly suggesting that the problems for which those assistance programmes were developed are not so effective. Therefore, it is natural to ask why this is happening. Are the assistance programmes reaching the right people? Maybe we are reaching the right people and doing the right type of things in these countries, but we have not allowed enough time for our actions to take effect. Maybe we are reaching the right people and doing the right actions for most of the miles we need to cover in helping communities mitigate their earthquake risks. However, the issue could be whether we are reaching people who represent the 'last mile' on this pathway. Here, I explore whether the work that many organizations and countries have done towards earthquake risk reduction over the past few decades in developing countries is appropriate or not. Why do we keep seeing the catastrophes of Sumatra, Chi Chi, Bhuj, Turkey, Algeria and on and on? I will articulate what I think is the problem. My contribution is intended to generate discussions, self-analysis of our approaches, what we are doing right and what we are not doing right. Hopefully such discussions will result in a better connection between the last mile and programmes around the world which are working towards earthquake risk mitigation.

    View details for DOI 10.1098/rsta.2006.1821

    View details for Web of Science ID 000239923700021

    View details for PubMedID 16844655

  • Urban earthquake disaster risk assessment and management 1st International Workshop on Vrancea Earthquakes Davidson, R. A., Gupta, A., Kakhandiki, A., Shah, H. C. SPRINGER. 1999: 287–307
  • Understanding time variation of risk - Crucial implications for megacities worldwide APPLIED GEOGRAPHY Kakhandiki, A., Shah, H. 1998; 18 (1): 47-53
  • The strategy effectiveness chart - A tool for evaluating earthquake disaster mitigation strategies APPLIED GEOGRAPHY Gupta, A., Shah, H. C. 1998; 18 (1): 55-67
  • Engineering role in failure cost evaluation for buildings Asian-Pacific Symposium on Structural Reliability and Its Applications (APSSRA95) Kanda, J., Shah, H. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. 1997: 79–90
  • A rational approach to pricing of catastrophe insurance Conference on the Social Treatment of Catastrophic Risk Dong, W. M., Shah, H., Wong, F. KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL. 1996: 201–18
  • WSSI - A dream, a challenge, and a time for action 10th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering Shah, H. C., Katayama, T. A A BALKEMA PUBLISHERS. 1995: 3–10
  • APPLICATION OF THE BOOTSTRAP METHOD TO QUANTIFY UNCERTAINTY IN SEISMIC HAZARD ESTIMATES BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Lamarre, M., TOWNSHEND, B., Shah, H. C. 1992; 82 (1): 104-119
  • FAILURE POSSIBILITY OF EXISTING BUILDINGS CIVIL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS Dong, W., Chiang, W. L., Shah, H. C., Wong, F. S. 1989; 6 (4): 170-179
  • VERTEX METHOD FOR COMPUTING FUNCTIONS OF FUZZY VARIABLES FUZZY SETS AND SYSTEMS Dong, W. M., Shah, H. C. 1987; 24 (1): 65-78
  • IRAS - AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR EARTHQUAKE INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT RISK ASSESSMENT US-ASIA CONF ON ENGINEERING FOR MITIGATING NATURAL HAZARDS DAMAGE Shah, H. C., Wong, F. S., Dong, W. ASIAN INST TECHNOLOGY. 1987: SS1–SS11
  • USE OF MAXIMUM-ENTROPY PRINCIPLE IN EARTHQUAKE RECURRENCE RELATIONSHIPS BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Dong, W. M., BAO, A. B., Shah, H. C. 1984; 74 (2): 725-737
  • THE PURPOSE AND EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKE CODES BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA ZSUTTY, T. C., Shah, H. C. 1981; 71 (2): 507-516
  • A TECHNICAL NOTE ON PGA-INTENSITY RELATIONS WITH APPLICATIONS TO DAMAGE ESTIMATION BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA MCCANN, M. W., Sauter, F., Shah, H. C. 1980; 70 (2): 631-637
  • PROBABILISTIC SITE-DEPENDENT RESPONSE SPECTRA JOURNAL OF THE STRUCTURAL DIVISION-ASCE Kiremidjian, A. S., Shah, H. C. 1980; 106 (1): 69-86
  • NONSTATIONARY RISK MODEL WITH GEOPHYSICAL INPUT JOURNAL OF THE STRUCTURAL DIVISION-ASCE SAVY, J. B., Shah, H. C., BOORE, D. 1980; 106 (1): 145-163
  • PUBLIC-POLICY ISSUES - EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Pate, M. E., Shah, H. C. 1980; 70 (5): 1955-1968
  • TANGSHAN REBUILDS AFTER MAMMOTH EARTHQUAKE CIVIL ENGINEERING GERE, J. M., Shah, H. C. 1980; 50 (12): 47-52
  • DETERMINING STRONG-MOTION DURATION OF EARTHQUAKES BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA MCCANN, M. W., Shah, H. C. 1979; 69 (4): 1253-1265
  • PUBLIC-POLICY ISSUES - EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Pate, M. E., Shah, H. C. 1979; 69 (5): 1533-1547
  • BAYESIAN MODEL FOR SEISMIC HAZARD MAPPING BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA MORTGAT, C. P., Shah, H. C. 1979; 69 (4): 1237-1251
  • PROBABILISTIC BASIS FOR ACI CODE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE Shah, H. C., Sexsmith, R. G. 1977; 74 (12): 610-611