The Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (www.centreforsmartinfrastructure.com) presents the inaugural CSIC Lecture.

The lecture explains why hurricanes (Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy), earthquakes (Canterbury Earthquake Sequence and Tohoku) and tsunamis (Tohoku) require a fundamental re-thinking of the way we evaluate the risks of extreme events, as well as define and protect critical infrastructure. Examples of critical infrastructure at risk are discussed with respect to earthquake effects on the water supply of Southern California and hurricane effects on New York City. Selective lessons learned from recent earthquakes are described with respect to mitigation measures. To address the need for protection against rare, high consequence events with limited financial resources, a strategy for improving infrastructure resilience is proposed.

Before delivering the inaugural CSIC Lecture on 17 Jan 2013, Prof Tom O'Rourke of Cornell University was interviewed by Prof Robert Mair for a more personal take on his lecture 'The New Normal for Natural Disasters'.