Toward Resilience: Preparing for the Big One Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute – BC Chapter (EERI-BC) is pleased to invite you to the 3rd Annual One-Day Symposium, taking place on Thursday, December 11, 2025, at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, BC.

Our inaugural symposium in 2023 and the second annual symposium in 2024 were great successes, well attended and well received. We are excited to announce our third symposium with an exciting program and hope you will join us.

This year’s symposium will focus on our theme: “Toward Resilience: Preparing for the Big One – Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake.” The event will bring together a diverse community of professionals, including structural and geotechnical engineers, geoscientists, planners, government representatives, and academic researchers. The program will feature keynote and invited lectures and an expert panel discussion.

As in previous years, attendance will be free for all accepted delegates to ensure the event remains accessible. We encourage broad participation from students, researchers, and practitioners across disciplines. Please note that advance registration and acceptance are required to attend the symposium.

This year, we are excited to feature keynote lectures by Dr. John Cassidy from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Prof. Perry Adebar from the University of British Columbia. Experts will present invited lectures on topics aligned with or complementary to our theme, and will participate in a panel discussion focused on earthquake resilience in BC’s infrastructure — covering buildings, bridges, dams, and tailings storage facilities.

Attendees will gain insights into BC’s resilience to a megathrust earthquake from a leading seismologist at NRCan, and learn about emerging challenges in seismic design of buildings from an academic expert. The symposium will also include presentations on BC Hydro’s dam safety projects and management systems by its Director of Dam Safety, BC’s post-disaster response plan from a BC Housing official, and earthquake early warning systems from NRCan’s seismologist. Additional talks will address the seismic resilience of BC’s bridges from consultants involved in code development, and the challenges of ensuring earthquake resilience in tailings storage facilities.

Event Flyer

Attendance will be free for all accepted delegates to ensure the event remains accessible, however, prior registration and formal acceptance by the Symposium Committee via email is required. Please register online by clicking on the Event Website URL below by November 14, 2025.