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Hawaii rated Hawaii ranks 13th in the nation for earthquake risks and potential damage, according to a study released today assessing the threat of tremors across the country.
13th in quake,
damage risk
Nationally, the vast
majority of future losses is
likely to be in CaliforniaStaff and wire reports
California faces the greatest threat, with potential annual building damage of more than $3 billion, said the report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Hawaii's potential damage: nearly $35 million.
James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director, said that while the chance of being in an earthquake remained fairly constant throughout the years, the risk of damage has increased substantially.
"That's because of the increase of urban development in high seismic hazard areas and the vulnerability of older buildings, which were not built to adequate seismic code," he said.
Chip McCreery, geophysicist-in-charge of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, noted that many of the places listed for high risks historically have had big earthquakes, but they are not frequent.
"In a way, earthquakes here in Hawaii are like tsunamis. They're infrequent, but we do have a risk, so it's worth being aware."
New York and Boston in the East and Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis in the middle are among the places at risk for damage and loss caused by quakes.
Besides California metropolitan areas and Hawaii, cities facing the highest potential losses include Seattle; Portland, Ore.; New York; Salt Lake City; St. Louis; Tacoma, Wash.; Las Vegas; Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; Reno, Nev.; Memphis, Tenn.; Charleston, S.C.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Newark, N.J.; and Atlanta.
The report, being released at a National Earthquake Risk Management Conference in Seattle, anticipates that the vast majority of future damage will be in California because of that state's combination of high seismic hazard and high economic exposure. That combination also applies to Seattle and Portland, according to the study.
The FEMA researchers used U.S. Geological Survey data on the earthquake hazard of about 150,000 points across the country and added information about local building inventories, economic data and other details to estimate potential losses.
"Understanding the scope and complexity of potential earthquake damage in a community provides the foundation for planning, zoning, building codes and regulating development in a way to reduce earthquake risk," Witt said.
He said the loss estimation system is the first of its kind using probability rather than depending only on historical data to estimate future losses.
"FEMA plans to expand the methodology and develop new models for estimating potential losses for other natural disasters as well, including high wind events and coastal and riverine flooding," he said.
The FEMA study estimates the nation's annual earthquake property damage losses at about $4.4 billion. That compares to annual flood losses of $5.2 billion between 1989 to 1998, according to National Weather Service data. The National Climatic Data Center estimates $5.4 billion in annual hurricane losses for that period.
Of the estimated $4.4 billion in annual damage, some $3.26 billion is attributed to California. The study did not seek to estimate deaths and injuries from quakes.
FEMA statement on earthquake losses
Full report (PDF format)
A new study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates the potential annual building damage from earthquakes, by state, in dollars. Potential losses
State Loss 1. California 3,261,751,000 2. Washington 227,860,000 3. Oregon 167,496,000 4. New York 83,987,000 5. Nevada 55,041,000 6. Tennessee 52,117,000 7. Utah 51,448,000 8. Alaska 42,353,000 9. South Carolina 41,812,000 10. New Jersey 38,655,000 -------------------------------------- 13. Hawaii 34,935,000