The Value of Observations for Reduction of Earthquake-Induced Loss of Life on a Global Scale

* Corresponding author. ** This research was performed in the framework of the EC project GEO-BENE (www.geo-bene.eu), led by IIASA. Abstract – Earthquakes on global scale cause considerable losses both in terms of economic impact and human lives. A proper coordination of disaster response activities requires observation of affected areas for evaluation of spatial distribution of damage. We use several freely available datasets including global seismic hazard assessment, data on population, gross domestic product, and urban areas to calculate expected loss of life based on rescue efficiency derived from an optimal rescue resource distribution model, which by design includes the observation capacity as a parameter. Despite of the high practical importance, the quantification of the “observation quality – reduction of loss of life” relationship has not yet been performed for earthquakes on a global scale. Our validated quantitative results show that better Earth observations may potentially contribute to a global reduction of earthquake induced loss of life within the range 20% – 90% from the “business as usual” level.