Thursday, December 31, 2009

Global Earthquake Model December 2009 Newsletter

Global Earthquake Model (GEM) is a public/private partnership initiated and approved by the Global Science Forum of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD-GSF). GEM aims to be the uniform, independent standard to calculate and communicate earthquake risk worldwide.

GEM December 2009 Newsletter ...

Participate in the GEM User Needs Assessment ...

Monday, December 28, 2009

HAZUS Training - Multi-Hazards for Floods Course / L172

L172 HAZUS Multi-Hazards for Flood Course

Offered by Kansas Division of Emergency Management,
Heartland HAZUS User Group (HHUG) and
FEMA Region 7



Fort Hays State University
600 Park Street
Hays, KS 67601

February 1-5, 2010
Start time: Monday at 1 p.m., Tuesday 8:30 a.m.; End time: Friday at 12 p.m. CST)

Course description and registration info are included in the event flyer,
Click to Down Load...

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Friday, December 18, 2009

Multiyear study of earthquake early-warning system

California scientists are upgrading hundreds of seismic monitors throughout the state, installing new devices that will vastly improve the state's system for detecting and warning of major earthquakes.

The changes will allow first responders, scientists and eventually the public to be notified of an earthquake up to five seconds faster than is possible now. Those precious seconds could allow emergency officials to shut off gas and water lines, raise fire station doors, stop subway operations and possibly even warn the public of shaking to come. READ MORE

This process is possible because when an earthquake occurs there are two primary seismic waves that move through the earth. Compressional waves, also known as primary or P waves, travel fastest, at speeds between 1.5 and 8 kilometers per second in the Earth's crust. Shear waves, also known as secondary or S waves, travel more slowly, usually at 60% to 70% of the speed of P waves. The P waves are used to trigger the early-warning system.

USGS Press Release ...

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Monday, December 14, 2009

Natural disasters at decade low in 2009

The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction has reported that the world this year suffered the fewest number of natural disasters in a decade. Floods, droughts and other extreme weather continued to account for most of the deaths and economic losses.
READ MORE
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Introduction to the HAZUS-MH Comprehensive Data Management System

ESRI has released the Introduction to the HAZUS-MH Comprehensive Data Management System as part of their web based training software.

The HAZUS-MH Comprehensive Data Management System (CDMS) helps HAZUS-MH users generate more accurate hazard loss estimations by integrating their own data into the HAZUS-MH analysis process. In this course, you will learn the basic workflow for importing site-specific and aggregate data to update HAZUS-MH inventories. This course focuses on the process of using CDMS rather than HAZUS-MH data requirements or data preparation.

The ESRI Virtual Campus HAZUS course list ...

>> Introduction to the HAZUS-MH Comprehensive Data Management System / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> HAZUS-MH Overview and Installation / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> Introduction to Using HAZUS-MH for Hurricane Loss Estimation / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> Introduction to Using HAZUS-MH to Assess Losses from a Riverine Flood Hazard / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> Introduction to Using HAZUS-MH for Earthquake Loss Estimation / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> Integrating User-Supplied Hazard Data into the HAZUS-MH Flood Model / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> HAZUS-MH Flood Model Output and Applications / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)


>> HAZUS-MH (Multi-Hazards) for Decision Makers / Self-Study (Virtual Campus)

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