Image
A new short documentary released by the ChEESE Center of Excellence in Solid Earth offers an inside look at how High-Performance Computing (HPC) was deployed in real time during Mexico’s National Earthquake Drill in September 2025, demonstrating the growing role of European supercomputing in emergency preparedness and disaster response.
The film revisits the urgent computing exercise carried out by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), where advanced HPC workflows were triggered during the drill to simulate a hypothetical magnitude 8.1 earthquake. Using the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, researchers executed near real-time simulations to generate ground-shaking maps, seismic hazard parameters, impact assessments and technical reports, which were shared during the exercise in close coordination with Mexican authorities.
Developed within the framework of the ChEESE Project, the exercise validated the use of urgent computing services for time-critical scenarios, integrating real-time seismic data, automated data transfer between Mexican and European infrastructures, and advanced visualisation tools to support decision-making in emergency contexts.
The initiative was recognised with the 2025 HPC Innovation Excellence Award, announced during the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC25). The award acknowledged BSC’s contribution to producing high-resolution, near real-time simulations that demonstrate the tangible societal impact of HPC technologies in crisis management.
The documentary also highlights the collaborative nature of the exercise, carried out in partnership with the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Mexican National Seismological Service (SSN), Mondaic, and European partners from the ChEESE-2P and DT-GEO projects. The trial represents an important milestone for European HPC, marking a pioneering step in large-scale, cross-continental disaster response exercises.
By documenting the technical workflows and institutional coordination behind the scenes, the film illustrates how urgent computing, GPU-enabled simulations and end-to-end HPC services can be mobilised to protect vulnerable populations when every minute counts.
Watch the documentary below or directly on the ChEESE YouTube channel:
Related News:
ChEESE partners at BSC demonstrate Urgent HPC in Mexico’s National Earthquake Drill
ChEESE project and BSC win 2025 HPC Innovation Excellence Award for their collaboration in Mexico’s National Earthquake Drill