Earthquake Engineering

Overview: Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary field within civil engineering that aims to design, analyze, construct, retrofit and monitor our physical infrastructure (buildings, bridges, roads, dams, utilities, etc.) to resist the effects of strong earthquakes. An essential objective of earthquake engineering is to minimize potential fatalities, injuries, and economic losses due to significant seismic events. Modern earthquake engineering leverages recent advances in engineering and science, such as state-of-the-art experimental equipment, high-fidelity numerical simulation, and high-performing traditional and composite construction materials to move beyond life safety and achieve higher societal goals, such as minimizing recovery time. These goals can be described as creating a more resilient built environment, where the community infrastructure assets function without significant disruption after an earthquake. An earthquake engineering emphasis at USU provides fundamental knowledge and hands-on training on structural and geotechnical aspects of this branch of engineering, preparing the next-generation engineering workforce to address complex challenges of earthquake resiliency at the state, national, and international levels.