Hazus Tsunami Module Released as part of Hazus 4.0 release

The Tsunami Module represents the first new disaster module for the Hazus software in almost 15 years and is the culmination of work completed on the Hazus Tsunami Methodology Development (FEMA, 2013) by a team of tsunami experts, engineers, modelers, emergency planners, economists, social scientists, geographic information system (GIS) analysts, and software developers. A Tsunami Oversight Committee provided technical direction and review of the methodology development.


The release includes several key highlights:

Territory Analysis: This release represents the first time that analysis will be available for U.S. territories (Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands).

New Point Format: The Hazus General Building Stock (GBS) for the Tsunami release will use a new National Structure Inventory (NSI) point format (details in User Release Notes available with download).

Case Studies: The Tsunami Module will require user-provided data, so the Hazus Team has provided five case study datasets for users, which are available on the MSC download site.

Two Types of Damage Analysis: Users will be able to run both near-source (Earthquake + Tsunami) and distant-source (Tsunami only) damage analysis.

New Edition of FEMA P-366, Hazus Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the United States

The new edition of FEMA P-366, Hazus Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the United States, developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazus team, the National Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), is now available online and via the FEMA Publication Warehouse.
This new 2017 update is computed with Hazus®-MH 3.0, the 2010 US Census data, and the 2014 U.S. Geological Survey Probabilistic Earthquake Hazard Maps. In addition, the new study has integrated site soil effects for a more accurate estimate of hazard influences to the losses. Hazus is a FEMA-developed and maintained geographic information system-based loss estimation tool. The Hazus tool provides a method for quantifying future earthquake losses. It is national in scope, uniform in application, and comprehensive in its coverage of the built environment.
The new Hazus study indicates the following key findings:

The Annualized Earthquake Loss (AEL) to the national building stock is $6.1 billion.
The majority (73 percent) of AEL occurs on the west coast (i.e., California, Oregon, and Washington).
Approximately 61 percent ($3.7 billion) of the AEL is concentrated in Structural and non-structural losses account for 18 percent and 82 percent of the building loss in AEL breakdown for California.
55 metropolitan areas account for 85 percent of the national AEL, seventeen major metropolitan areas have local AEL over $50
The earthquake threat is national, with 31 States exposed to AEL exceeding $10
This new study is to support earthquake awareness, preparedness, implementation of cost-effective mitigation measures, and strategies to reduce the current seismic risk in our most at-risk communities. Strategies to reduce future losses nationwide need to be closely integrated with policies and programs that guide planning and development.
The publication is available to the public, electronic version by download or hard copy by phone.

To access digitally, visit the https://wfema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/132305.
To order a hardcopy, contact the FEMA Distribution Center via email, FEMA-Publications-Warehouse@dhs.gov, or phone, 1-800-480-2520.

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