Seismic Risk Assessment for British Columbia, Accessible Via Web Portal

Date: 4/24/2019

Time: 09:30 AM

Room: Puget Sound

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has employed Global Earthquake Model’s (GEM) OpenQuake engine to undertake a national-scale earthquake risk assessment, which began with a provincially-focussed evaluation of British Columbia (BC), the most seismically hazardous region of the country. The assessment includes an implementation of the probabilistic seismic hazard model derived for the most recent National Building Code of Canada, and the development of deterministic seismic hazard models representing a range of potentially damaging earthquake scenarios along BC’s coastline and some interior regions. Anticipated ground motions were combined with vulnerability data, including site conditions, buildings and infrastructure, and population.

Given that comprehensive assessments are invaluable for effective emergency planning, focussed risk mitigation measures, and disaster management, the results will be available via a web portal. The portal will be demonstrated though a selection of deterministic scenarios, including a megathrust earthquake of M~9.0 along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a M~7.1 crustal earthquake adjacent to the City of Victoria’s waterfront, a M~7.0 off Haida Gwaii, and a deep M~6.8 beneath the Strait of Georgia just west of the City of Vancouver. This work is supporting Canada’s efforts toward meeting the recommendations within the Sendai Framework developed by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Presenting Author: Alison L. Bird

Authors