Dr. Hoby Njara Tendrisoa Razafindrakoto has been selected by the African Academy of Science to build a seismological research group in Madagascar. Her five-year project is called EARTHMOVING and will monitor earthquakes and evaluate associated hazards in Madagascar.

The associated funding program “ARISE - The African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence” is a high level and highly competitive program (500k euros) supporting early mid-career scientists in their research. Funded by the European Union, the ARISE programme is implemented by the African Academy of Sciences with the European Commission and the African Union Commission as strategic oversight partners.

The EARTHMOVING project that Razafindrakoto is embracing aims to empower research in earthquake seismology and seismic engineering in Madagascar, also to build a foundation for advanced physics-based and rapid post-earthquake assessment from earthquakes in Madagascar and eventually in Africa. The goal is to enhance earthquake monitoring by improving state-of-the-art algorithms to detect and locate events and discriminate between natural and non-natural earthquakes (e.g., quarry blast).

Furthermore, the aim is to capitalize on the monitoring developments and the existing data from permanent and temporary seismic stations in Madagascar to achieve a comprehensive seismic hazard analysis accounting for both natural and induced seismicity; the first step toward managing the risks effectively.

GFZ, through “section 2.6 - Seismic Hazard and Risk Dynamics”, where Dr. Hoby Razafindrakoto is currently doing her research, is one of the international collaborators in the project and will play a major role in capacity building and knowledge transfer. The purpose of the project is also to strengthen professional development and ensure a long-term impact on scientific capacity, allowing scientists from Madagascar to fully be involved and contribute to international scientific projects aiming to understand the solid earth and associated risks. GFZ help to ensure the quality of the outcomes. For the outreach program within the project, Razafindrakoto will start to build a collaboration with “GFZ-Schuelerlabor”.

About Dr. Hoby Njara Tendrisoa Razafindrako

Dr. Hoby Razafindrako’s career is a great example of international capacity building opportunities and collaboration. She earned her Master in Geophysics at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar. While still studying in Madagascar, she came to the German Research Centre for Geosciences for the first time to do a training course. To earn her PhD, she later moved to Saudi Arabia where she did her research at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. She then (2015-2018) became a high-level Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch (New Zealand) before starting at GFZ in 2018. Her research interests include: ground motion simulation, uncertainty in earthquake-source inversions, engineering applications of ground motion simulations and statistical modeling.