Safety and security Switzerland's earthquake resilience should also be improved with AI
The risk of earthquakes was a key topic at this year's Civil Protection Conference in Biel/Bienne. The conference focused on how Switzerland could use artificial intelligence, big data and drones for earthquake prevention and management in the future.
25.11.2025, 16:24
SDA
In his speech in Biel on Tuesday, Federal Councillor Martin Pfister noted that the security policy challenges are currently great. There is a significant deterioration in the security situation worldwide. Switzerland is affected in all cases by an escalation of conflicts in Europe. Civil protection is of central importance in terms of security policy.
A key topic at this year's conference was the risk of earthquakes. Big data and AI tools can be used to identify imminent earthquakes in advance, which enables early warning, it was said. Robotics could help locate victims and people trapped in rubble, while digitalization could contribute to a better assessment of the condition of buildings after an earthquake.
Blaise Duvernay, Head of the Federal Coordination Office for Earthquake Prevention, explained in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency that major earthquake events in Switzerland generally only occur every 50 to 150 years. However, simulations show that the consequences are so great that this risk ranks among Switzerland's top 5.
Switzerland is not yet sufficiently prepared, for example, to care for a very large number of injured people in the event of a disaster or to find a solution for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of homeless people.
