Summary/Description

The GeoHazards International (GHI) method of assessing community earthquake safety estimates the risk of life loss from earthquakes in cities around the world. The algorithm is inspired by loss estimation and produces results that indicate the relative severity of cities´ earthquake risk, the sources of risk within each city, and the relative effectiveness of potential mitigation options. The same results are also produced for the risk of school children.

Methodology Type

Assessing earthquake risk

Intended User

Application Areas

Cities around the world

Data Requirements

The GHI method collects data through interviews and workshops conducted in the cities, in which specialists from a wide range of fields and institutions describe aspects of their city that contribute to risk and discuss risk management activities already in effect. Field: Seismology, Soils, and Landslides; City Planning, Building Inventory, School Buildings, Emergency Response, Medical Emergency Preparedness, Hospital Emergency Preparedness, Fire Preparedness.

Key Outputs

Building fatality potential, landslide fatality potential, search and rescue life saving potential, Fire fatality potential, Medical care life potential.

Skill Requirements for Use

Seismology, earthquake engineering, urban planning, and disaster management.

Remarks

Thus the results present two kind of information about earthquake risk. Information about their own risk helps city leaders set priorities, while information about other cities provides benchmarks for understanding how severe their risk is and for deciding what level might be acceptable.