Download or read book Using Local Global and Simulated Earthquakes to Inform Earthquake Resilience Efforts in the Pacific Northwest written by Mika Thompson and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this dissertation, we investigate how the geometry and rock composition of the Seattle and Tacoma basins influences strong ground motions during local earthquakes by surveying and interpreting strong-motion seismic records and generating 3D ground-motion simulations. We also evaluate the performance of an earthquake early warning system for the West Coast of the United States using historical records of local and global intraslab earthquakes and ground-motion simulations of hypothetical magnitude 9 megathrust earthquake scenarios on the Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ).Chapter 2 is a characterization of sedimentary basin effects within the Seattle and Tacoma basins using Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and U.S. Geological Survey strong-motion recordings of five local earthquakes (M 3.9–6.8), including the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. We observe basin-edge generated surface waves at sites within the Seattle basin for most ray paths that cross the Seattle fault zone. We also note previously undocumented basin-edge surface waves in the Tacoma basin during one of the local earthquakes. To place quantitative constraints on basin amplification, we determine amplification factors by computing the spectral ratios of inside-basin sites to outside-basin sites at 1, 2, 3, and 5 s periods. Ground shaking is amplified in the Seattle basin for all the earthquakes analyzed and for a subset of events in the Tacoma basin. We find that the largest amplification factors in the Seattle basin are produced by a shallow crustal earthquake located to the southwest of the basin. Our observation suggests that future shallow crustal and megathrust earthquakes rupturing west of the Puget Lowland will produce greater amplification within the Seattle basin than has been seen for intraslab events. We also perform ground-motion simulations using a finite-difference method to validate a 3D Cascadia velocity model (CVM) by comparing properties of observed and synthetic waveforms up to a frequency of 1 Hz. Basin-edge effects are well reproduced in the Seattle basin, but are less well resolved in the Tacoma basin. Continued study of basin effects in the Tacoma basin would improve the CVM. In Chapter 3, we investigate whether assuming a fixed shallow depth in the ShakeAlert network-based earthquake early warning system is sufficient to produce accurate ground-motion based alerts for intraslab earthquakes. ShakeAlert currently uses a fixed focal depth of 8 km to estimate earthquake location and magnitude. This is an appropriate way to reduce computational costs without compromising alert accuracy in California, where earthquakes typically occur on shallow crustal faults. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), however, the most common moderate-magnitude events occur within the subducting Juan de Fuca slab at depths between ~35 and 65 km. Using a dataset of seismic recordings from 37 Mw 4.5+ intraslab earthquakes from the PNW and Chile, we replay events through the Earthquake Point-Source Integrated Code and eqInfo2GM algorithms to estimate source parameters and compute modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) alert threshold contours. Each event is replayed twice—once using a fixed 8 km depth and a second time using the actual catalog earthquake depth. For each depth scenario, we analyze MMI III and IV contours using various performance metrics to determine the number of correctly alerted sites and measure warning times. We determine that shallow depth replays are more likely to produce errors in location estimates of greater than 50 km if the event is located outside of a seismic network. When located within a seismic network, shallow and catalog depth replays have similar epicenter estimates. Results show that applying catalog earthquake depth does not improve the accuracy of magnitude estimates or MMI alert threshold contours, or increase warning times. We conclude that using a fixed shallow earthquake depth for intraslab earthquakes will not significantly impact alert accuracy in the PNW. Chapter 4 is an evaluation of ShakeAlert performance for M 9 megathrust earthquakes in the PNW. Since there are no recordings of large magnitude earthquakes on the CSZ, we use synthetic seismograms from a suite of 30 simulated M 9 earthquake scenarios on the Cascadia megathrust with varying hypocenters, down-dip rupture extents, slip distributions, and locations of high-stress drop subevents to test the performance of ShakeAlert algorithms. We implement new features not currently set up in the operational ShakeAlert system (version 2.1.5), such as an upgraded version of the FinDer algorithm capable of utilizing generic and fault specific templates, a set of generic crustal templates that increase the maximum allowed rupture length from 300 km to 1362 km, a new version of the eqInfo2GM algorithm that uses precomputed distance tables to determine the spatial extent of ShakeAlert MMI alert threshold contours, and contour distance tables generated with the Next Generation Attenuation – West 2 ground motion models. We measure the timeliness and accuracy of source estimates and evaluate the performance of ShakeAlert alert contours using a station-based alert classification scheme. We also a develop a population-based alert classification method by aligning a 30 arc-second resolution population grid with Voronoi diagrams computed from the classified sites for each scenario. Using raster statistics, we estimate the approximate population in the PNW that would receive timely accurate alerts during an offshore M 9 earthquake. We also observe the range of expected warning times with respect to the spatial distribution of the population. Our results, disaggregated by MMI alert threshold, show that most of the population could receive alerts with positive warning times for an alert threshold of MMI III, but that the number of late and missed alerts increases as the MMI alert threshold is increased. For MMI V, an average of just under 60% of the population would be alerted prior to the arrival of threshold level shaking. Large regions of late and missed alerts for alert thresholds MMI IV and V are caused by delays in alert updates, inaccurate FinDer source estimates, and undersized alert contours. We also evaluate whether some end-users in the MMI V (moderate shaking) late alert zones could receive an alert prior to experiencing MMI VI (strong) or MMI VII (very strong) level shaking. Correct timely alerts increase by about 10% for MMI V using this warning time definition. Finally, we investigate an alerting strategy where ShakeAlert sends out an alert to the entire PNW region when the system detects at least an M 8 earthquake on the coast. This strategy eliminates all missed alerts and all late alerts except at sites close to the epicenter. The mean percentage of timely correct alerts is similar to using an alert threshold of MMI III, but the range of warning times is significantly greater and there is less risk of over-alerting in California.

Download or read book Local Tsunami Hazards in the Pacific Northwest from Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquakes written by Eric L. Geist and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest written by Robert S. Yeats and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this expanded new edition of Living With Earthquakes, Robert Yeats, a leading authority on earthquakes in California and the Pacific Northwest, describes the threat posed by the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a great earthquake fault which runs for hundreds of miles offshore from British Columbia to northern California. New research reveals subtle movements on the deepest part of this fault every 14?15 months?building up strain toward the next major earthquake. Combining cutting-edge research with practical safety information, Living with Earthquakes:? Introduces new information about the danger from faults beneath major Northwest cities: the Seattle Fault, Tacoma Fault and Portland Hills Fault? Explores such topics as earthquake forecasting, catastrophe insurance, tsunamis, soil liquefaction and seismic waves in Northwest lakes caused by Alaskan earthquakes? Reviews earthquake preparedness and disaster response in the aftermath of the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, the worst natural disaster in Washington?s history? Suggests actions that citizens can take to protect their families and homes. An essential guide for anyone interested in understanding earthquake science or in preparing for the next earthquake, this book is also a call to action. Vivid descriptions of recent disaster?including the great tsunami that swept down the Northwest coast in 1964, the 1993 Oregon earthquakes, and the 2001 Nisqually earthquake?underscore the urgent need for better earthquake planning and awareness.

Download or read book National Earthquake Resilience written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States will certainly be subject to damaging earthquakes in the future. Some of these earthquakes will occur in highly populated and vulnerable areas. Coping with moderate earthquakes is not a reliable indicator of preparedness for a major earthquake in a populated area. The recent, disastrous, magnitude-9 earthquake that struck northern Japan demonstrates the threat that earthquakes pose. Moreover, the cascading nature of impacts-the earthquake causing a tsunami, cutting electrical power supplies, and stopping the pumps needed to cool nuclear reactors-demonstrates the potential complexity of an earthquake disaster. Such compound disasters can strike any earthquake-prone populated area. National Earthquake Resilience presents a roadmap for increasing our national resilience to earthquakes. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) is the multi-agency program mandated by Congress to undertake activities to reduce the effects of future earthquakes in the United States. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-the lead NEHRP agency-commissioned the National Research Council (NRC) to develop a roadmap for earthquake hazard and risk reduction in the United States that would be based on the goals and objectives for achieving national earthquake resilience described in the 2008 NEHRP Strategic Plan. National Earthquake Resilience does this by assessing the activities and costs that would be required for the nation to achieve earthquake resilience in 20 years. National Earthquake Resilience interprets resilience broadly to incorporate engineering/science (physical), social/economic (behavioral), and institutional (governing) dimensions. Resilience encompasses both pre-disaster preparedness activities and post-disaster response. In combination, these will enhance the robustness of communities in all earthquake-vulnerable regions of our nation so that they can function adequately following damaging earthquakes. While National Earthquake Resilience is written primarily for the NEHRP, it also speaks to a broader audience of policy makers, earth scientists, and emergency managers.

Download or read book Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2011 Part 1B 111 2 Hearings written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 1100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Field Trip to Pliocene in the Ventura Basin written by Robert S. Yeats and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tsunami Warning and Preparedness written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, NOAA has improved the ability to detect and forecast tsunamis by expanding the sensor network. Other federal and state activities to increase tsunami safety include: improvements to tsunami hazard and evacuation maps for many coastal communities; vulnerability assessments of some coastal populations in several states; and new efforts to increase public awareness of the hazard and how to respond. Tsunami Warning and Preparedness explores the advances made in tsunami detection and preparedness, and identifies the challenges that still remain. The book describes areas of research and development that would improve tsunami education, preparation, and detection, especially with tsunamis that arrive less than an hour after the triggering event. It asserts that seamless coordination between the two Tsunami Warning Centers and clear communications to local officials and the public could create a timely and effective response to coastal communities facing a pending tsuanami. According to Tsunami Warning and Preparedness, minimizing future losses to the nation from tsunamis requires persistent progress across the broad spectrum of efforts including: risk assessment, public education, government coordination, detection and forecasting, and warning-center operations. The book also suggests designing effective interagency exercises, using professional emergency-management standards to prepare communities, and prioritizing funding based on tsunami risk.

Download or read book Disaster Resilience written by National Academies and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-12-29 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No person or place is immune from disasters or disaster-related losses. Infectious disease outbreaks, acts of terrorism, social unrest, or financial disasters in addition to natural hazards can all lead to large-scale consequences for the nation and its communities. Communities and the nation thus face difficult fiscal, social, cultural, and environmental choices about the best ways to ensure basic security and quality of life against hazards, deliberate attacks, and disasters. Beyond the unquantifiable costs of injury and loss of life from disasters, statistics for 2011 alone indicate economic damages from natural disasters in the United States exceeded $55 billion, with 14 events costing more than a billion dollars in damages each. One way to reduce the impacts of disasters on the nation and its communities is to invest in enhancing resilience-the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from and more successfully adapt to adverse events. Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative addresses the broad issue of increasing the nation's resilience to disasters. This book defines "national resilience", describes the state of knowledge about resilience to hazards and disasters, and frames the main issues related to increasing resilience in the United States. It also provide goals, baseline conditions, or performance metrics for national resilience and outlines additional information, data, gaps, and/or obstacles that need to be addressed to increase the nation's resilience to disasters. Additionally, the book's authoring committee makes recommendations about the necessary approaches to elevate national resilience to disasters in the United States. Enhanced resilience allows better anticipation of disasters and better planning to reduce disaster losses-rather than waiting for an event to occur and paying for it afterward. Disaster Resilience confronts the topic of how to increase the nation's resilience to disasters through a vision of the characteristics of a resilient nation in the year 2030. Increasing disaster resilience is an imperative that requires the collective will of the nation and its communities. Although disasters will continue to occur, actions that move the nation from reactive approaches to disasters to a proactive stance where communities actively engage in enhancing resilience will reduce many of the broad societal and economic burdens that disasters can cause.

Download or read book Preventing Earthquake Disasters The Grand Challenge in Earthquake Engineering written by National Research Council (U.S.). Committee to Develop a Long-Term Research Agenda for the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) and published by National Academy Press. This book was released on 2003-11-21 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is scheduled to become operational in 2004. These network sites will perform a range of experiments to test and validate complex computer models being developed to simulate the behavior of structures subjected to earthquakes. To assist in this effort, the NSF requested the National Research Council(NRC) to frame the major questions to be addressed by and to develop a long-term research agenda for NEES. Preventing Earthquake Disasters presents an overview of the grand challenge including six critical research problems making up that challenge. The report also provides an assessment of earthquake engineering research issues and the role of information technology in that research effort, and a research plan for NEES.

Download or read book Living on an Active Earth written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-09-22 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The destructive force of earthquakes has stimulated human inquiry since ancient times, yet the scientific study of earthquakes is a surprisingly recent endeavor. Instrumental recordings of earthquakes were not made until the second half of the 19th century, and the primary mechanism for generating seismic waves was not identified until the beginning of the 20th century. From this recent start, a range of laboratory, field, and theoretical investigations have developed into a vigorous new discipline: the science of earthquakes. As a basic science, it provides a comprehensive understanding of earthquake behavior and related phenomena in the Earth and other terrestrial planets. As an applied science, it provides a knowledge base of great practical value for a global society whose infrastructure is built on the Earth's active crust. This book describes the growth and origins of earthquake science and identifies research and data collection efforts that will strengthen the scientific and social contributions of this exciting new discipline.

Download or read book Reconstructing Kobe written by David W. Edgington and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hanshin Earthquake was the largest disaster to affect postwar Japan and one of the most destructive postwar natural disasters to strike a developed country. Although the media focused on the disaster's immediate effects, the long-term reconstruction efforts have gone largely unexplored. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, David Edgington records the first ten years of reconstruction and recovery and asks whether planners successfully exploited opportunities to make a more sustainable and disaster-proof city. This book is an intricate investigation of one of the largest redevelopment projects in recent memory.

Download or read book Building Urban Resilience written by Abhas K. Jha and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook is a resource for enhancing disaster resilience in urban areas. It summarizes the guiding principles, tools, and practices in key economic sectors that can facilitate incorporation of resilience concepts into decisions about infrastructure investments and urban management that are integral to reducing disaster and climate risks.

Download or read book The ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Lifelines written by Stephane Hallegatte and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-07-16 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Infrastructure—electricity, telecommunications, roads, water, and sanitation—are central to people’s lives. Without it, they cannot make a living, stay healthy, and maintain a good quality of life. Access to basic infrastructure is also a key driver of economic development. This report lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience - the ability of infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a natural hazard. It focuses on four infrastructure systems that are essential to economic activity and people’s well-being: power systems, including the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity; water and sanitation—especially water utilities; transport systems—multiple modes such as road, rail, waterway, and airports, and multiple scales, including urban transit and rural access; and telecommunications, including telephone and Internet connections.

Download or read book Improved Seismic Monitoring Improved Decision Making written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-01-04 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Improved Seismic Monitoringâ€"Improved Decision-Making, describes and assesses the varied economic benefits potentially derived from modernizing and expanding seismic monitoring activities in the United States. These benefits include more effective loss avoidance regulations and strategies, improved understanding of earthquake processes, better engineering design, more effective hazard mitigation strategies, and improved emergency response and recovery. The economic principles that must be applied to determine potential benefits are reviewed and the report concludes that although there is insufficient information available at present to fully quantify all the potential benefits, the annual dollar costs for improved seismic monitoring are in the tens of millions and the potential annual dollar benefits are in the hundreds of millions.

Download or read book The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-30 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the observed and projected changes to the ocean and cryosphere and their associated impacts and risks, with a focus on resilience, risk management response options, and adaptation measures, considering both their potential and limitations. It brings together knowledge on physical and biogeochemical changes, the interplay with ecosystem changes, and the implications for human communities. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Download or read book Reducing Disaster Losses Through Better Information written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-01-22 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Losses of life and property from natural disasters in the United States-and throughout the world-have been enormous and the potential for substantially greater future losses looms. It is clearly in the public interest to reduce these impacts and to encourage the development of communities that are resilient to disasters. This goal can be achieved through wise and sustained efforts involving mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Implementing such efforts, particularly in the face of limited resources and competing priorities, requires accurate information that is presented in a timely and appropriate manner to facilitate informed decisions. Substantial information already exists that could be used to this end, but there are numerous obstacles to accessing this information, and methods for integrating information from a variety of sources for decision-making are presently inadequate. Implementation of an improved national or international network for making better information available in a more timely manner could substantially improve the situation. As noted in the Preface, a federal transition team is considering the issues and needs associated with implementing a global or national disaster information network as described in the report by the Disaster Information Task Force (1997). This National Research Council report was commissioned by the transition team to provide advice on how a disaster information network could best make information available to improve decision making, with the ultimate goal of reducing losses from natural disasters. The report is intended to provide the basis for a better appreciation of which types of data and information should be generated in an information program and how this information could best be disseminated to decision makers.