Socioeconomic and Political Considerations in Developing Earthquake Damage Scenarios in Urban Areas

Abstract

In some areas of the world, like California, we think of ourselves as living in earthquake country, but damaging earthquakes can also occur from Kamchatka to Santiago de Chile. Some of the world’s better known active faults, such as the San Andreas which bisects California, have been extensively studied, and the risks they present are relatively well understood. However, many other faults, undiscovered or unstudied, present unknown or ill-defined hazards to millions of unsuspecting urban dwellers. If cities and their inhabitants are to be protected from the devastation earthquakes can cause, this hazard must be understood and the risk reduced. The earthquake damage scenario (EDS) is a key tool to achieve both these ends.