Role of HAZUS in Catastrophic Earthquake Planning
The Role of HAZUS in Catastrophic Earthquake Planning was among the topics that were explored at a Workshop on Strategic Directions for Seismic Risk Modeling and Decision Support, sponsored by the Mid-America Earthquake Center (MAE).
A paper was prepared and presented by a team from PBS&J in coordination with FEMA that highlights the potential role of HAZUS-MH to support catastrophic earthquake, with emphasis on planning for a New Madrid scenario. Among the key findings of the paper:
- The Nationwide Plan Review: Phase 2 Report (DHS, June 16, 2006) identifies several key gaps in our nation’s catastrophic planning process. The paper highlights the role of HAZUS-MH in addressing several shortfalls.
- Key to using HAZUS-MH to support catastrophic planning is the ability to fully integrate the technology and HAZUS-MH team into the Planning and Command sections under the National Incident Management System.
- HAZUS-MH can play an important role in planning for a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, including refinement of planning assumptions, scenario development, and loss estimates for key Emergency Support Functions (ESFs).
- Catastrophic planning can serve as a platform for the development and testing of a web-based data management portal system that would:
- Identify, prioritize and incorporate new datasets;
- Lead to the creation of a data management system that would enable users to place default and Level 2 inventory data in existing web-based portals for designated users; and
- Enable users to download and distribute pre-built study regions to federal, state and local governments to expedite post-earthquake analyses.
- Mitigation should be incorporated into the catastrophic planning process, including analyses of losses avoided to essential facilities through mitigation, and assessments of increases in response and recovery capacities as a result of targeted mitigation measures.
The paper is available for download below as a Microsoft Word document.
- Strategic Directions in Seismic Modeling: HAZUS Development and Current Applications for Catastrophic Planning (DOC 1.9MB)
Additional Resources:
Application of HAZUS to the New Madrid Earthquake Project Presentation
This presentation includes details of the Study Region Overview and Characteristics, HAZUS Level 1and 2 analysis for M6.5 earthquake, and the results for six functional areas of the New Madrid Earthquake Project.
HAZUS Applications for Catastrophic Planning (PDF 9MB, TXT 4KB)
HAZUS-MH continues to play an important role in advancing one of FEMA's priorities in 2007 -- planning for catastrophic earthquakes and hurricanes in the United States. This presentation about the benefits of HAZUS Applications for Catastrophic Planning was presented by Doug Bausch, FEMA Region VIII, and Shane Hubbard of The Polis Center during the 2007 National HAZUS Users Conference.
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MS WordLast Modified: Tuesday, 11-Dec-2007 09:59:24 EST