DRIFT: A New Era for Earthquake Preparedness and Post-Disaster Recovery

How International Collaboration Is Advancing Faster, Safer, and More Sustainable Damage Assessment

Earthquakes remain one of the world’s most destructive and unpredictable natural hazards. Yet, despite decades of research, the tools available to assess damage and guide recovery often lag behind what modern technology could enable. Manual inspections, inconsistent data collection, incomplete information, and slow reporting all contribute to delays at the exact moment when communities need clarity the most.

This is the challenge DRIFT - Disaster Reconnaissance & Intelligent Forecasting Technology seeks to address.

Aralia Systems is proud to lead this major new international initiative, funded under the Eureka Disaster Resilience Programme 2024. Out of 21 applications worldwide, only three projects received funding, and DRIFT was ranked among the highest-scoring proposals, recognising both its technical ambition and the urgency of its mission.

Why DRIFT Matters: Closing the Information Gap in Disaster Response

The hours and days following an earthquake are critical. Decisions made during this window determine:

• whether damaged buildings can be safely entered

• where search-and-rescue teams should prioritise

• how retrofitting and repair should be planned

• what materials can be recovered rather than sent to landfill

• how communities rebuild and how quickly

Yet authorities often lack reliable, high-resolution information about structural safety and the extent of damage. DRIFT aims to change that by building a next-generation digital service that integrates AI, 3D imaging, structural engineering, and Earth Observation (EO) data into a seamless, operational workflow.

The Innovation Behind DRIFT

DRIFT brings together unique technical capabilities across imaging, modelling, and sustainability. The core components include:

Automated 2D & 3D Imagery Extraction

Fast, high-quality visual capture, indoors and outdoors, provides immediate data for classification and structural analysis.

Metadata-Driven Damage Classification

Instead of relying solely on appearance, DRIFT incorporates contextual information (building age, materials, retrofitting history) to generate far more reliable assessments.

Structural Vulnerability Evaluation

Advanced modelling will estimate both visible and hidden weakness, helping authorities understand not just what has failed, but what is likely to fail next.

Waste Optimisation for Sustainable Rebuilding

A world-first: linking post-earthquake debris with circular-economy principles to reduce waste and support greener reconstruction.

Earth Observation Integration (Optical & SAR)

Satellite data provides wide-area situational awareness, from land displacement to building deformation, even when cloud cover or dust obstructs ground-level views.

Together, these components form a holistic platform, enabling rapid decision-making across the full disaster lifecycle: preparedness, response, and long-term recovery.

A Global Collaboration to Address a Global Challenge

No nation is immune to seismic risk. That is why DRIFT brings together expertise from across three earthquake-prone regions:

United Kingdom

• Aralia Systems (Lead) – AI, modelling, and 3D imaging

• Brunel University London – structural engineering & vulnerability analysis

Türkiye

• Özyeğin Üniversitesi – earthquake engineering, field testing

• J1 Industries – applied technology and systems development

• Globetech – imaging and inspection solutions

South Korea

• Hanyang University ERICA – advanced reconstruction & modelling

• KICT (Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology) – hazard assessment & EO data integration

This consortium reflects the project’s fundamental ethos: disaster resilience works best when knowledge crosses borders.

How DRIFT Aligns with Aralia’s Mission

At Aralia, our work has always centred on designing practical, explainable, human-centred AI systems for complex real-world problems. DRIFT builds directly on our expertise in:

• 3D reconstruction

• supernormal imaging

• hybrid AI

• explainable modelling

• operational decision-support tools

Where many disaster-tech efforts focus solely on automation, DRIFT focuses on actionable intelligence, information that is trustworthy enough to inform life-critical decisions.

What DRIFT Means for the Future of Disaster Resilience

By the end of the project, DRIFT will demonstrate:

• Faster, more consistent building assessments

• Improved safety for responders and civilians

• Better prioritisation for retrofitting and repair

• Reduced environmental impact through smarter waste processing

• Enhanced predictive insight through integrated EO and ground data

Crucially, the platform is being developed with operational scalability in mind, suitable for municipalities, civil protection agencies, insurers, and international responders.

This is not speculative research. It is the foundation for real, deployable tools.

Final Thought

Earthquakes will always be unpredictable. But their consequences do not have to be.
With DRIFT, our goal is to give communities and decision-makers the clarity they urgently need, combining global expertise with advanced digital tools in service of resilience, sustainability, and human safety.

We are honoured to lead this collaboration and look forward to sharing more as the project progresses.