This paper offers a probabilistic assessment of expected property damage and casualty risk due to the earthquake ground shaking hazard affecting Salt Lake County, Utah (population = 725,600). Salt Lake County is bisected by a segment of the Wasatch Fault. It is also at risk from twenty-one other nearby fault segments. Findings are based on (1) a microzonation of the earthquake ground shaking hazard, (2) an inventory of buildings by value, structural frame type and use, (3) earthquake damage functions defining the performance of buildings as a function of ground shaking intensity, (4) data on the density of residential and employee populations, and (5) earthquake casualty functions defining casualty risk as a function of building damage. The analysis is supported by the algebraic combination of digital map layers within a vector-based geographic information system. Triangular irregular network models show the expected distributions of casualties. Hazard mitigation policy implications are also considered.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
February 01, 1993
A GIS-Based Assessment of Earthquake Property Damage and Casualty Risk: Salt Lake County, Utah
Philip C. Emmi;
Philip C. Emmi
Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Search for other works by this author on:
Carl A. Horton
Carl A. Horton
Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Search for other works by this author on:
Philip C. Emmi
Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Carl A. Horton
Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Publisher: Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
First Online:
01 Jun 2020
Online ISSN: 1944-8201
Print ISSN: 8755-2930
© 1993 Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Earthquake Spectra (1993) 9 (1): 11–33.
Article history
First Online:
01 Jun 2020
Citation
Philip C. Emmi, Carl A. Horton; A GIS-Based Assessment of Earthquake Property Damage and Casualty Risk: Salt Lake County, Utah. Earthquake Spectra 1993;; 9 (1): 11–33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1193/1.1585703
Download citation file:
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Email alerts
Index Terms/Descriptors
- attenuation
- bedrock
- building codes
- buildings
- concrete
- construction materials
- damage
- earthquakes
- economics
- elastic waves
- faults
- geographic information systems
- geologic hazards
- ground motion
- information systems
- land use
- magnitude
- mitigation
- models
- modified Mercalli scale
- natural hazards
- numerical models
- prediction
- probability
- public policy
- recurrence interval
- regulations
- Salt Lake County Utah
- seismic intensity
- seismic waves
- seismic zoning
- seismicity
- soils
- statistical analysis
- United States
- Utah
- Wasatch fault zone
- Wasatch Front
- wave amplification
- wood
- casualties
Latitude & Longitude
Citing articles via
Related Articles
Assessing Seismic Response of Utah Gas Systems
Earthquake Spectra
From Source to Building Fragility: Post-Event Assessment of the 2013 M7.1 Bohol, Philippines, Earthquake
Earthquake Spectra
Local Site Effects and Incremental Damage of Buildings during the 2016 Central Italy Earthquake Sequence
Earthquake Spectra
Seismic Design Requirements for Regions of Moderate Seismicity
Earthquake Spectra
Related Book Content
Testing a geographical information system for damage and evacuation assessment during an effusive volcanic crisis
Detecting, Modelling and Responding to Effusive Eruptions
Magnitude, recurrence interval, and near-source ground-motion modeling of the Mineral, Virginia, earthquake of 23 August 2011
The 2011 Mineral, Virginia, Earthquake, and Its Significance for Seismic Hazards in Eastern North America
Advances in natural hazard science and assessment, 1963–2013
The Impact of the Geological Sciences on Society
The 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake, and its significance for seismic hazards in eastern North America—Overview and synthesis
The 2011 Mineral, Virginia, Earthquake, and Its Significance for Seismic Hazards in Eastern North America