Development Site of QLARM
Brief Overview

What is QLARM?

• An expert software tool to estimate losses (building damage, injured, fatalities) due to earthquakes
  
• The purposes are to trigger rapid humanitarian response and to analyse the risk in scenario or probabilistic mode
  
• Global scope, with focus on developing countries
  

How does it work?

Source description (e.g. magnitude, epicenter, depth)
   + attenuation model --> pdf (1)
   + site amplification model --> pdf (2)
   = strong motion map

   + settlement locations --> pdf (3), pdf (3a)
   + building stock data --> pdf (4)
   + vulnerability curves --> pdf (4)
   + collapse rate
   = damage per settlement.

   + real estate values
   = monetary losses (not implemented)

   + population figures
   + casualty matrices
   = human losses

The technique

• Client-Server application based on open software
  
• Web-based user interface (Apache and cocoon web application framework)
  
• Server-side / distributed calculation modules implemented in java
  
• Model output to GIS-enabled database
  

-- > Background