A Story of California's Seismic Hazards: Studying Historical and Simulated Earthquakes Through Geovisualization Platforms
Abstract
In the last ~150 years, there have only been a few large M6+ earthquakes in California that resulted in casualties, damage to infrastructure, and economic losses. Large earthquakes such as the M7.9 1857 Fort Tejon Earthquake, M7.9 1906 The Great San Francisco Earthquake, M6.7 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and the M6.4 & M7.1 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence, are historical markers that impacted major cities across California. The recent Ridgecrest earthquakes reminded the public that California is tectonically active and that they are at-risk for potential seismic events. Previous earthquakes (historical and recent) can be analyzed using earthquake risk models to understand their potential impact if they were to occur today. We utilize spatial storytelling through the implementation of geovisualization software, such as ESRI's ArcGIS and StoryMap platforms to convey seismic and scientific information to the public. StoryMaps are interactive visual aides that communicate the impact of ground motion for each historical and simulated earthquake. Utilizing ShakeMaps from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) we examine these historical earthquakes using FEMA's hazard and risk analysis model, HAZUS, which estimates social and economic losses based on the 2010 United States Census. We identified 14 large historical earthquakes from 1857 to 2019 with a M6.2+ that occurred on active faults; as they may rupture at any given moment impacting Northern and Southern California. Our earthquake information technology approach, using scientific models, FEMA tools, and geospatial analysis tools transformed seismic data into a resource that can be used to educate and communicate seismic risk and hazards to the public.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMIN51G0721C
- Keywords:
-
- 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1926 Geospatial;
- INFORMATICS;
- 4328 Risk;
- NATURAL HAZARDS;
- 4343 Preparedness and planning;
- NATURAL HAZARDS