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EERI's Student Awards Committee offers an annual Graduate Student Paper Award from Earthquake Spectra. This competition encourages the active involvement of students in earthquake engineering and the earthquake hazards community and allows emerging experts to share their research. Since January 2018, papers with graduate student first authors published in each volume of Earthquake Spectra have been eligible for the competition. The submitted papers may have any number of authors, but the first author must be a graduate student researcher at the time of first submission. Papers undergo the normal peer-review process for Earthquake Spectra, and published papers are then reviewed by the Student Awards Committee to determine the winner. The authorship team wins the award, and at least one co-author should be designated to accept the award on behalf of the research team at the EERI annual meeting.

The EERI Younger Member Award is awarded to recognize early-career members of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute who have made outstanding contributions to EERI and the pursuit of its objectives in the early stages of their career. The award particularly emphasizes contributions that have improved opportunities for and increased the impact of younger members within the Institute. This annual award is designed to honor young professionals who are employed for five or fewer years in their field and have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing earthquake resilience and the mission of EERI. Recipients receive recognition at the EERI Annual Meeting and support for their participation in the event.

The William B. Joyner Memorial Lecture series was established by the Seismological Society of America (SSA) in cooperation with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) to honor Bill Joyner's distinguished career at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and his abiding commitment to the exchange of information at the interface of earthquake science and earthquake engineering. Joyner Lecturers are chosen on the basis of their work at this interface, whether it involves contributions from earthquake science to earthquake engineering, or from earthquake engineering to earthquake science. Presented at the Annual Meetings of SSA and EERI, as well as at locations of the lecturer's choosing, the lectures bring scientists and engineers together in an effort to make our world a safer one. The award recognizes professionals with a demonstrated commitment to strengthening the interface of earthquake science and earthquake engineering through significant contributions in either direction. EERI and SSA waive meeting registration fees for the Joyner Lecturer and provide travel funds to attend the Annual Meeting of each organization.

With a generous gift from the Shah family, EERI annually awards the Shah Family Innovation Prize. This prize rewards younger professionals and academics for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management. A cash prize is awarded to recognize and honor one individual who has been involved in the development of cutting-edge, innovative solutions to problems in earthquake engineering and related disciplines. The individual should be in the developing or expanding stage of his or her career, with the promise of important contributions ahead. The intent of the prize is to stimulate further creativity and leadership in the earthquake risk mitigation community and EERI. Nominees will have emphasized creative and innovative thinking and demonstrated the potential to make major contributions to the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management at early stages in their careers. The Selection Committee particularly encourages the nomination of candidates who have demonstrated a commitment to activities that will help reduce the loss of life from earthquakes. Individuals are recognized for a combination of past accomplishments and future potential.

The Outstanding Paper Award is presented by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) to authors of papers published in Earthquake Spectra that are judged to be outstanding contributions to earthquake hazard mitigation. Papers of recipients must be judged to have made a significant impact on the profession, to provide a significant advance in the state-of-the-art or understanding of a particular topic, to be of exceptional technical quality with concise and informative illustrations, and to be well written for a broad audience. Only papers published in issues of Earthquake Spectra during the preceding calendar year are eligible for consideration. The award recognizes excellence in scientific and technical communication within the field of earthquake engineering and seismology. Recipients are selected by the Editorial Board of Earthquake Spectra and the award is presented at the EERI Annual Meeting. The number of awards per year depends on the quality of papers and shall not exceed two; in some years, when no paper is deemed exceptional, no award is granted.

The annual Distinguished Lecture Award of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute is awarded to members of the Institute to recognize and encourage communication of outstanding professional contributions of major importance for earthquake hazard mitigation. The contributions of the recipient and the topic of the Distinguished Lecture should be of broad interest to the membership and may range from research to public policy development. The award is established to communicate developments on topics of major significance for earthquake hazard mitigation. The recipients will prepare an address on the agreed topic for presentation as the Distinguished Lecture at the upcoming EERI Annual Meeting. This lecture will be subsequently presented as a nationwide series of lectures throughout the year. The lecture may be published in Earthquake Spectra. Each recipient will receive a framed citation and travel costs for presentation of the lecture.

The Bruce Bolt Medal honors the legacy of Professor Bruce Alan Bolt (1930-2005), the founder of Engineering Seismology. It is awarded jointly by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), the Consortium of Organizations for Strong Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS), and the Seismological Society of America (SSA) to recognize individuals worldwide who work at the intersection of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering. The medal recognizes those whose accomplishments involve the promotion and use of earthquake measurements, and whose leadership in the transfer of scientific and engineering knowledge into practice or policy has led to improved seismic safety. The annual award is presented at the annual meeting of the recipient's choice among the three sponsoring organizations. Recipients must meet three specific criteria: promotion of strong-motion instrumentation or advancing strong-motion data processing or publicly-available data utilization; technical contributions in earthquake engineering or engineering seismology; and leadership in the transfer of knowledge into practice or policy that has led to improved seismic safety.

The Alfred E. Alquist Special Recognition Medal is presented to an individual, company, or organization that has made substantial contributions to the field of seismic safety and earthquake risk reduction, having directly affected the seismic safety of the general population. The Medal may be awarded to recognize career contributions or notable and/or singular achievements. A significant contribution to the public good is the primary selection criterion. The award is not restricted to EERI members. Prior to 2010, EERI gave out an award called the Special Recognition Award. Starting in 2010, EERI assumed stewardship of the Alfred E. Alquist Medal, which had until then been dispensed by the California Earthquake Safety Foundation. The Special Recognition Award was merged with the Alquist Medal to create the present award. Recipients receive a framed citation, an engraved medal, and registration fee for the EERI Annual Meeting.

The EERI/FEMA NEHRP Graduate Fellowship is a one-year fellowship designed to foster the participation of capable individuals in working toward goals and activities of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, this fellowship recognizes graduate students with strong promise to advance the field of earthquake risk mitigation. The fellowship provides a stipend of $12,000 that can be used for tuition, fees, and research expenses. Students are evaluated based on a combination of graduate and undergraduate research experience and accomplishments, alignment of their work with the mission of EERI, academic excellence, leadership potential, extracurricular activities that contribute to reducing earthquake risks, and their ability to articulate their planned path forward in the field of earthquake risk reduction. Applicants are strongly encouraged to address each of these components in their application statement and describe the potential impacts of their research on earthquake risk mitigation. One graduate fellowship is awarded annually for each academic year.