OEM co-hosts 2023 national earthquake program managers meeting

PORTLAND, Ore. – March 20, 2023 – The 2023 National Earthquake Program Managers (NEPM) meeting will take place March 21-23 at the Duniway Hotel at 545 SW Taylor St. The event aims to provide information sharing and capacity-building opportunities for state, federal, non-profit and private sector members of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).

This year’s NEPM meeting is co-hosted by the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW). OEM Geological Hazards Program Coordinator and 2023 NEPM Chair Althea Rizzo will lead the meeting, alongside 2023 NEPM Vice-Chair Scott Gauvin, who also serves as manager of strategic operations and preparedness with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

“It’s a privilege to work with people from across the country so passionate about improving earthquake safety,” said Rizzo. “Earthquake preparedness and mitigation is a vital investment in our collective resilience, safeguarding our communities and securing the future against nature’s unpredictable upheavals.”

The NEPM group is primarily composed of state emergency management agency representatives who actively plan and prepare to reduce earthquake-related losses in their states. While some states have a dedicated earthquake program manager, in others, the responsibility is shared. Collectively known as the National Earthquake Program Managers, the group holds annual meetings to develop programs, share best practices and foster relationships.

The NEPM group first began holding annual meetings in the early 1990s, and after a brief hiatus, resumed meeting in 2004 at the National Earthquake Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Since then, the group has met yearly to continue building resilience against the high-consequence hazard of earthquakes.

For more information, visit EQProgram.net.

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