Development of a Global Earthquake Impact Database (GEID) for the Verification and Calibration of Loss Models

The validation and calibration of earthquake loss models require reliable impact data, which are often unavailable or lack sufficient detail. We describe the development of an open global database of damage, loss, and ground shaking data for significant historical earthquakes, building on the earlier efforts of the U.S. Geological Survey's ShakeMap Atlas. This database advances the current availability of earthquake data by providing information about both the impact and the estimated/recorded ground shaking in the region, as well as useful models to develop earthquake scenarios in the OpenQuake‐engine. The database currently includes more than 100 historical earthquakes covering information about damaged buildings, economic losses, the number of fatalities and injuries, and the population left homeless. Moreover, it provides rupture solutions and recorded ground motion parameters in the OpenQuake format to allow the generation of cross‐correlated ground motion fields and the estimation of damages and losses. We discuss the observed drivers of earthquake impact and provide recommendations to improve data collection protocols. All data are available through a public repository at: https://github.com/gem/geid .