Introduction to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and the latest strategic plan

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) is the main coordination plan for earthquake disaster reduction at the level of the Federal Government of the United States. The United States Congress has made periodic adjustments in the form of planned reauthorizations. In 1990, 1997, 2000, and 2004, adjustments were made to the focus and supervision of NEHRP through reauthorization. In fact, the 2004 reauthorization bill expired in 2009. Although the US Congress continued to provide funding annually, the reauthorization was delayed until 2018. In the 2018 adjustment, NEHRP made significant directional adjustments to highlight earthquake warning and earthquake resilience construction. In May 2023, NEHRP released the “Strategic Plan for the NEHRP Fiscal Years 2022—2029” on its website, implementing the adjustment requirements of the 2018 Reauthorization Act, sorting out and integrating existing NEHRP goals and tasks, setting four integration goals and eighteen support tasks, and determining eight key investment areas. This plan is a guiding document for the new stage of earthquake disaster reduction in the United States, and has strong reference significance for China’s earthquake prevention and disaster reduction work.