Key facts
The cantons, communes, infrastructure operators and property and land owners are generally responsible for mitigating earthquake risks. Homeowners, for example, are responsible for the seismic protection of their buildings. The cantons and communes set the relevant requirements and monitor compliance. Responsibility for post-earthquake management lies primarily with the cantons. The federal government is responsible for monitoring seismic activity, providing alerts and assessing the national hazard level. It provides subsidiary support in the event of a crisis. The federal government does not have any superior legal powers vis-à-vis the cantons.
Four-year programmes of earthquake preparedness measures are in place to steer earthquake risk management at federal level. The Federal Council established an interdepartmental working group on earthquake risk management (earthquake IDWG) for coordination purposes in 2017. In accordance with the Federal Council’s decision, the first comprehensive analysis of earthquake preparedness, involving the federal government, the cantons and third parties, was produced in 2024 with the national earthquake preparedness plan (NEPP). It identified shortcomings and proposed measures to improve preparedness. These measures now need to be implemented at federal and cantonal level.
The aim of the audit was to assess whether the measures to protect against earthquakes are being implemented in an appropriate and coordinated manner. The focus was on cooperation and monitoring of the measures contained in the NEPP. The audit painted a favorable picture, with the exception of the insufficient monitoring of the cantons’ NEPP measures.
