Modeling of damage-related earthquake losses in a moderate seismic-prone country and cost–benefit evaluation of retrofit investments: application to France

We performed large-scale earthquake economic loss estimations for France and cost–benefit analyses for several French cities by developing a semiempirical, intensity-based approach. The proposed methodology is inexpensive and easily applicable in case of a paucity of detailed information regarding the specific regional seismic hazard and the structural characteristics of the building stock, which is of particular importance in moderate-to-low seismic hazard regions. The exposure model is derived from census datasets, and the seismic vulnerability distribution of buildings is calculated using data mining techniques. Several hypothetical, large-scale retrofit scenarios are proposed, with increasing levels of investment. These cities, in their respective reinforced states, are then subjected to a series of hazard scenarios. Seismic hazard data for different return periods are calculated from regulatory accelerations from French seismic zoning. Loss estimations for the original (non-reinforced) configuration show high levels of expected building repair and replacement costs for all time spans. Finally, the benefits in terms of damage avoidance are compared with the costs of each retrofit measure. Relatively limited strengthening investments reduce the probability of building collapse, which is the main cause of human casualties. However, the results of this study suggest that retrofitting is, on average, only cost-effective in the parts of France with the highest seismicity and over the longest time horizons.     

Defining megathrust tsunami source scenarios for northernmost Cascadia

Natural Hazards - Disaster insurance is an effective way in reducing and sharing natural disaster risk. In this paper, a special risk management model based on the cooperative insurance among the...     

Characteristics of Momentum and Heat Transfer over Semiarid Grasslands with Different Grazing Intensities in Inner Mongolia, China

The drag coefficient (C d) and heat transfer coefficient (C h) with the bulk transfer scheme are usually used to calculate the momentum and heat fluxes in meteorological models.The aerodynamic roughness length (z 0m) and thermal roughness length (z 0h) are two crucial parameters for bulk transfer equations.To improve the meteorological models,the seasonal and interannual variations of z 0m,z 0h,coefficient kB 1,C d,and C h were investigated based on eddy covariance data over different grazed semiarid grasslands of Inner Mongolia during the growing seasons (May to September) from 2005 to 2008.For an ungrazed Leymus chinensis grassland (ungrazed since 1979),z 0m and z 0h had significant seasonal and interannual variations.z 0m was affected by the amount and distribution of rainfall.kB 1 exhibited a relatively negative variation compared with z 0h,which indicates that the seasonal variation of z 0h cannot be described by kB 1.To parameterize z 0m and z 0h,the linear regressions between ln(z 0m),ln(z 0h),and the leaf area index (LAI) were performed with R 2 =0.71 and 0.83.The monthly average kB 1 was found to decrease linearly with LAI.The four-year averaged values of C d and C h were 4.5×10 3 and 3.9×10 3,respectively.The monthly average C d only varied by 8% while the variation of C h was 18%,which reflects the different impacts of dead vegetation on momentum and heat transfer at this natural grassland.Moreover,with the removal of vegetation cover,grazing intensities reduced z 0m,z 0h,C d,and C h.