FY 2006
Seaside, Oregon Tsunami Pilot Study—Modernization of FEMA flood hazard maps
González, F.I., E. Geist, C. Synolakis, D. Arcas, D. Bellomo, D. Carlton, T. Horning, B. Jaffe, J. Johnson, U. Kânoğlu, H. Mofjeld, J. Newman, T. Parsons, R. Peters, C. Peterson, G. Priest, V. Titov, A. Venturato, J. Weber, F. Wong, and A. Yalciner (Tsunami Pilot Study Working Group)
NOAA OAR Special Report, NTIS: PB2007-101992, NOAA/OAR/PMEL, Seattle, WA, 94 pp. + 7 appendices (2006) |
Executive Summary
FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) guidelines do not currently exist for
conducting and incorporating tsunami hazard assessments that reflect
the substantial advances in tsunami research achieved in the last
two decades; this conclusion is the result of two FEMA-sponsored
workshops and the associated Tsunami Focused Study (Chowdhury
et al., 2005). Therefore, as part of FEMA's Map
Modernization Program, a Tsunami Pilot Study was carried out in the
Seaside/Gearhart, Oregon, area to develop an improved Probabilistic
Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) methodology and to provide
recommendations for improved tsunami hazard assessment guidelines.
The Seaside area was chosen because it is typical of many coastal
communities in the section of the Pacific Coast from Cape Mendocino
to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and because State Agencies and local
stakeholders expressed considerable interest in mapping the tsunami
threat to this area. The study was an interagency effort by FEMA,
U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in collaboration with the University of Southern
California, Middle East Technical University, Portland State
University, Horning Geoscience, Northwest Hydraulics Consultants,
and the Oregon Department of Geological and Mineral Industries.
Draft copies and a briefing on the contents, results, and
recommendations of this document were provided to FEMA officials
before final publication. |