Modeling Seismic Mitigation Strategies

Abstract

Over the past two decades, as the cost of natural disasters has skyrocketed in the United States, much emphasis has been placed on mitigating these hazards. From earthquakes to floods to hurricanes, agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have tried to increase public awareness of natural hazard risk and encourage those at risk to mitigate for the hazard. At the same time, advanced software tools have emerged to allow stakeholders to more accurately assess their hazard risk exposures. These include the proprietary catastrophe models used by the insurance and reinsurance industries and the federal government’s model, HAZUS®.