Assessing Algerian Earthquake Risk

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March 1, 2005

Scientists from WHOI and USGS Menlo Park will be assessing future earthquake risk in Algeria and training Algerian researchers under a new two-year project funded by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The researchers plan to obtain a better assessment of earthquake risk in the highly populated capital city of Algiers, as well as investigate the broader earthquake potential along an active seismic belt running through Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco in northern Africa and on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. They will also develop and transfer tools for seismic hazard analysis to researchers in Algeria and other developing countries, and assist Algerian and northern African countries in raising public awareness about their earthquake risk.