Earthquakes are a serious threat for residents and infrastructures in many European countries, particularly those around the Mediterranean Sea. In many cities exposed to high earthquake hazard, a substantial proportion of the population still lives in buildings that do not meet modern earthquake-resistant standards. Preventive actions, such as retrofitting of structures, are essential, but they are not sufficient and cannot be applied easily on a large scale. Real-time actions focusing on decreasing the physical vulnerability and exposure of populations are a viable way to reduce earthquake risk. The primary objective of the session is to compare and discuss the efficiency of real-time earthquake risk mitigation methods and their capability of protecting structures, infrastructures and populations with special reference to operational earthquake forecasting, early warning and real-time vulnerability assessments as well as best practices on how to use all of this information in a unified manner. The aim of the session will include the interaction with the public, the role of social networks and ways to inform emergency managers and the public on low probability-high consequence events, where the impact of false alarms are substantial. Contributions from past and ongoing EU and other international projects are welcome.