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A Proposed Canadian National Annex to the International Macroseismic Scale

The International Macroseismic Scale (IMS) seeks to improve upon the collection of macroseismic data by detailing and standardizing the process used to assign earthquake intensity values globally. While IMS is intended to be representative of building classes around the world, countries may create their own Annex document. National Annexes are meant to account for the nuances of building types not otherwise captured in the central document, differing vulnerability classes and damage grades of those buildings, and national or regional post-earthquake building code and damage assessment practices that are likely to be mined for macroseismic data.

Canada intends to create a National Annex to the IMS guidelines, leveraging the existing “Did You Feel It?” system from Natural Resources Canada and the related macroseismic evolution ongoing in the United States and New Zealand. This synergy is possible due to the many shared building characteristics and post-event reporting strategies between all three countries. For example, the draft United States Annex (Hortacsu et al., 2024) recommends using a building taxonomy and corresponding vulnerability classes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's FEMA P-154, combined with damage classifications from the Applied Technology Center's ATC-20. Canadian equivalents from the first-generation Canadian Seismic Risk Model and British Columbia’s Post Disaster Building Assessment program will be evaluated using criteria similar to those applied in the United States and abroad to arrive at a concept of implementation. We will present our preliminary Canadian IMS Annex to facilitate input from the Canadian community of earthquake engineers and seismologists.

Session: Macroseismic Intensity: Past, Present and Future [Poster]

Type: Poster

Room: Exhibit Hall

Date: 4/17/2025

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Tiegan Hobbs

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Poster Number: 18

Additional Authors