EEFIT mission: September 2023 Morocco earthquake

Synopsis

On September 8^th 2023, a devastating earthquake with a moment magnitude (M_w) of 6.8 struck Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, causing damage to houses, schools, and hospitals in urban centres like Marrakesh, Taroudant, Asmiz, and Chichaoua. This seismic event also triggered numerous landslides, obstructing transportation networks and isolating remote villages in the High Atlas Mountains. The event resulted in substantial losses, with >3,000 casualties and ~6,600,000 people affected. Although this was an extremely dramatic scenario, it provided a unique scientific opportunity to collect essential data that could help reduce the impact of similar disasters in the future. 

The mission allowed the investigation of the damage scenario and the gathering of extensive field data. The talk will analyse the scenario in Morocco following the earthquake, examine the activation and evolution mechanisms of landslides, evaluate the damage patterns across various construction typologies and assess remote sensing technologies in reconnaissance missions. The results from this mission can significantly improve the way we prepare and respond to such extreme and catastrophic events.

The talk is of interest for a wide variety of specialists including Earthquake Engineers, Geotechnical Engineers, Engineering Geologists/Geomorphologists, Structural Engineers and Disaster Risk-Reduction Specialists.

About the speakers

Viviana Iris Novelli is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Civil Engineering at Cardiff University. She holds a PhD in Earthquake Engineering from University College London (UCL), and has an extensive background in both industry and academia. Her research focuses on advancing multi-risk decision support tools aimed at reducing the impact of natural hazards in terms of minimising human losses and socio-economic disruptions, especially in Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries.

Michael Withworth is a Technical Director in Engineering Geologist/Geomorphology with 20 years’ experience in Britain, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with a specialism on geological and geohazards conditions and their impact on infrastructure. Michael has extensive expertise in geological and geomorphological mapping in a range of geological and climatic settings including tropical climates, having worked in Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Hong Kong and Nepal and Desert environments in Spain, Saudia Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. Michael has also led research into the impact of geological hazards on critical infrastructure and has been involved in Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Missions to Nepal (2015 & 2022), Haiti (2021) and Morocco (2025), investigating the impact of earthquake induced landslides.

In person attendance

The event will held in-person at the Institution of Civil Engineers (see map below). Prior registration is not required. Seats are allocated on a first come, first served basis. We encourage everyone to attend in person if they can. 

Join online

Please join the Zoom meeting by clicking on this link. No registration is required. 

Further information

This lecture will be preceded by the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) AGM and the SECED AGM.

This event is organised by SECED, co-badged with EEFIT and chaired by Fabio Freddi (UCL). The event is open to all and is free to attend.