A proposed seismic model code for Latin America and the Caribbean could move toward a final version in 2027, bringing new regional attention to earthquake-resistant construction after the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela in late June.
The Código Modelo SÃsmico para América Latina y el Caribe, or Seismic Model Code for Latin America and the Caribbean, is intended to give countries a shared technical base for designing and evaluating buildings in earthquake-prone areas. It would not replace national seismic codes but would serve as a common reference that each country could adapt to its own laws, soils, construction practices and risk levels.
The project has been in development for more than a decade among engineers and seismic specialists from across the region. Costa Rica is playing a visible role in the current stage: San José will host the ninth regional meeting of the code from July 27 to 29, with support from the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos, the Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Costa Rica and the Pan American Union of Engineering Associations.
The meeting comes weeks after two powerful earthquakes hit northern Venezuela. The disaster has sharpened regional discussion about building safety, vulnerable housing, inspection standards and how countries with high seismic risk prepare before the next major event.
The regional code project began in 2013 in Venezuela and was later taken up by Chile’s Instituto de la Construcción, according to Costa Rican engineering officials. Since then, specialists tied to national seismic standards in different countries have worked on a model document meant to give engineers a shared language for design, risk assessment and post-earthquake learning.
The comparison often made by specialists is Europe’s Eurocode system, a regional framework that gives countries a common technical base while allowing local adaptation. Latin America and the Caribbean do not yet have an equivalent seismic model, despite sharing many of the same risks: active faults, fast-growing cities, informal housing, aging public buildings and uneven enforcement of construction rules.
Costa Rica’s role matters because the country has one of the region’s better-established seismic code traditions. The University of Costa Rica and CFIA were central to the first Costa Rican seismic code in the 1970s, and the code later became mandatory for civil works through national law. The current regional effort builds partly on that experience, especially the idea that technical standards only work when they are backed by professional oversight and regular updates.
The Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles said in a 2025 public statement that Costa Rica participates actively in the model code project, contributing lessons from its own seismic code and technical leadership in the field. The college also noted that the model code is meant to serve as a guide, not a replacement for national rules.
The San José meeting will focus on seismic hazard, seismic demand, performance-based design, vulnerable informal housing, structural systems, soil-structure interaction and national code updates. The program also includes Costa Rican presentations on Central Valley seismicity, new advances in housing standards, prefabricated housing systems and steel structures in the new Costa Rican seismic code.
The clearest next step appears to be 2027. Engineering representatives have said the document is already in an advanced stage and that the following regional meeting, expected in Chile next year, could be where specialists present a definitive version.
For Costa Rica, the project is less about rewriting local rules from scratch than keeping the country tied to regional research and lessons from major earthquakes abroad. For the wider region, the Venezuela disaster has made the point more urgent: seismic safety depends not only on knowing where earthquakes can happen, but on whether homes, hospitals, schools, roads and public buildings are designed and maintained to survive them.
