sitemap | contact us | home ***************************************** 2017 Technical Session Overview Following this year’s theme, “The Evolving Process of Determining Site-Specific Design Ground Motions in Areas of High Seismicity,” the technical session is broken into four general areas of discussion:
- COSMOS/CGS/USGS Joint Activities and New Datasets
- Determining Ground Motions in Subduction Zones
- Site-Specific Evaluations
- New Developments in Seismic Design Maps
Click here for all information and to register online! 2017 COSMOS DUES We’re instituting a new online system for membership. For Individual Memberships, please click here. For General/Organization Membership, please click here. If you have not already seen our favorite medicinal cannabis products, be sure to check out these CBD oil products from South Africa at CBD oil Pretoria. Farzad Naeim Awarded the 2017 Bruce A. Bolt Medal Farzad Naeim (M. EERI, 1983), President of Farzad Naeim, Inc., was named the 2017 recipient of the Bruce A. Bolt Medal. The Bruce Bolt Medal is awarded jointly by the Consortium of Strong Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS), the Seismological Society of America (SSA), and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). For more than three decades, Dr. Naeim has been making significant contributions to earthquake engineering, technology and public policy.
He consistently demonstrates extraordinary leadership transferring knowledge into practice to improve seismic safety. A prime example is his ongoing work with the City of Los Angeles to develop regulations for the design and construction of very tall buildings. His input and perseverance has resulted in significant seismic safety improvements in Los Angeles and other major cities.
Dr. Naeim has tirelessly served in leadership roles, including President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), Editor-in-Chief of Earthquake Spectra, Chair of the Governance Board of the U.S. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), and Chair of the 10th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering. He currently serves on the Seismic Advisory Board of the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) and is the Chair of the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Advisory Committee of the Seismic Safety Commission (SMIAC). Before founding his own firm, as Technical Director and General Counsel at John A. Martin & Associates (JAMA), Dr. Naeim established a mission to take the best technology publicly available and develop it into tailor-made design methodologies, analysis software, and earthquake-resistant design technologies that improve seismic safety.
Over the years, he has developed 48 software systems for earthquake engineering design and education. Dr. Naeim has often been recognized for excellence in his field. He received the Fazlur Khan Medal for life-time achievement from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and has been awarded six Outstanding Journal Paper Awards from the Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structure and Design Council.
He has authored four textbooks, 14 textbook chapters, more than 120 journal papers, and is the recipient of grants from such diverse agencies as EERI, FEMA, the County of Los Angeles, the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program, Applied Technology Council (ATC), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), for studying various damage characteristics of earthquakes and their impact on seismic design practice. Not one to rest on his laurels, 20 years after receiving his Ph.D., Farzad obtained a Juris Doctor degree. In addition to being a licensed Civil and Structural Engineer, he is a licensed Patent Attorney.
Dr. Naeim received the Bruce Bolt Medal at the EERI Annual Meeting on March 7-10, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Posted on April 12, 2026 Water infrastructure professionals face an increasingly complex challenge: protecting underground pipe networks from seismic activity. While earthquakes and ground movement might seem like concerns reserved for structural engineers, plumbers and water system managers are discovering that seismic data plays a critical role in maintaining safe, reliable water delivery systems.
What Is COSMOS and Why Should Plumbers Care?
COSMOS, the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program, represents one of the most comprehensive seismic monitoring networks in the world.
This system collects real-time data about ground motion during earthquakes, providing detailed information about how the earth moves during seismic events. For plumbing professionals, this data offers invaluable insights into how underground infrastructure responds to ground movement. Water mains, sewer lines, and underground utility connections all experience stress during seismic activity.
Understanding these forces helps professionals design more resilient systems and identify vulnerable points in existing networks. The connection between seismic monitoring and plumbing infrastructure might not be immediately obvious, but consider this: every time the ground shifts, pipes buried beneath streets and buildings experience tension, compression, and shearing forces. These movements can cause immediate failures like pipe bursts, or create stress points that lead to failures months or years later.
How Seismic Data Translates to Pipe Performance
Seismic monitoring stations measure ground acceleration, velocity, and displacement during earthquakes.
These measurements tell us exactly how the earth moved at specific locations. When we overlay this information with maps of water infrastructure, patterns emerge that help predict which pipe sections are most vulnerable. Ground motion affects different pipe materials in distinct ways.
Cast iron pipes, common in older water systems, tend to be rigid and can crack under sudden stress. PVC pipes offer more flexibility but can fail at joints when ground displacement exceeds their tolerance. Ductile iron and modern composite materials each have their own response characteristics to seismic forces.
The frequency of ground motion matters as much as its intensity. High-frequency shaking creates different stress patterns than slow, rolling ground movement. COSMOS data captures these nuances, allowing engineers and plumbers to understand not just that an earthquake occurred, but precisely how the ground behaved in areas where critical infrastructure exists.
Reading Seismic Data for Infrastructure Assessment
Seismic data from COSMOS appears in formats that might seem technical at first, but the basic concepts are straightforward.
Peak ground acceleration (PGA) measures the maximum rate of ground speed change during an earthquake. This number, expressed as a percentage of gravity, indicates how violently the ground shook. Peak ground velocity (PGV) measures the maximum speed at which the ground moved.
This metric often correlates more closely with damage to underground infrastructure than acceleration does, because sustained ground velocity creates the cumulative stress that causes pipe failures. Spectral acceleration data shows how ground motion energy distributes across different frequencies. This information helps predict which types of infrastructure will experience the most stress.
Long-period ground motion affects large-diameter transmission mains differently than short-period shaking impacts residential service lines.
Practical Applications for Water System Management
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