HAZUS-MH
The New Madrid seismic zone is capable of generating
some of the most powerful and devastating earthquakes in the continental
United States. In 1811-1812, the central United States was sparsely
populated, but today, there are more than 10 Million people in the
region. Large cities such as Memphis, St. Louis, Little Rock, and
others, are all susceptible to the effects of earthquakes. In contrast
to the western United States the causes and effects of earthquakes
in the central and eastern United States are just beginning to be
understood. Through better understanding of earthquake hazards and
through public education, earth scientists and engineers are helping
to protect the citizens of all parts the United States from loss
of life and property in future earthquakes.
HAZUS-MH, a
geographic information systems (GIS) based, loss-estimation tool
developed by FEMA, can play an important role in preparing
our communities for earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. By using
HAZUS, emergency managers are able to play out what if scenarios:
What if the central United States was hit with a magnitude 7.0
earthquake? What if a category 4 hurricane was approaching Miami,
Florida? What would happen if there was severe flooding in northern
Indiana? These are the questions that emergency managers ask themselves
every day. HAZUS and GIS technology can help shed light on these
probable hazards by including tools to gather and update critical
facility, census, building, and lifeline data. Specific hazard
parameters can be input as well.
After study
region and an event scenario have been created in HAZUS, the
analysis can be performed. HAZUS goes through a vast series of
scripts, algorithms, and calculations to bring the final analysis
together. Once the event has been “run”, HAZUS can
display event damage by building type, casualty rate, critical
facilities, and many other categories. This is a brief glimpse
into what HAZUS is capable of, but generally speaking, there
are 3
different levels of analysis.
HAZUS, however, does not come without limitations.
It is impossible to know exactly how many buildings will fall,
people that will perish, or the exact restoration costs before
a disaster occurs. With that in mind, HAZUS is meant to be able
to shed light for emergency managers, planners, and government
officials on the possible impacts that disasters can have on the
United States. Whether viewing the analysis results pre-event or
comparing them, post-event, it is paramount to remember that HAZUS
is a loss estimation tool, not a standard, for what will, or will
not occur.
The
following sections of our website contain different HAZUS scenarios
and analysis for the central United States:
For more information
on HAZUS, please visit:
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