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National Academy Report on Seismic Monitoring
An Ad-Hoc committee of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources of the National Academy of Sciences recently completed a report on the value of seismic monitoring. The Ad-hoc committee was charged to:
- Review the nature of losses caused by earthquakes.
- Examine how improved information from seismic monitoring systems could reduce future losses in a cost-effective manner, taking into consideration the major impact-reduction approaches (for example, hazard assessment, building codes and practice, warning systems, rapid response, and insurance).
- Assess the capabilities for loss reduction provided by existing seismic monitoring networks, and indentify how the ANSS and any other new monitoring systems would improve these capabilities.
- Describe concepts and methods for assessing avoided costs (both direct and indirect) that would result from improved seismic monitoring.
- To the extent possible, provide an estimate of the potential benfits that might be realized from full deployment of the ANSS.
Although it is difficult to quantify many of these issues, the panel found: Full deployment of the ANSS offers the potential to substantiall reduce earthquake losses and their consequences by providing critical information for land-use planning, building design, insurance, warnings, and emergency preparedness and response. In the committee's judgement, the potential benefits far exceed the costs -- annualized buildings and buliding-related earthquake losses alone are estimated to be about $5.6 billion, whereas the annualized cost of improved seismic monitoring is about $96 million, less than 2 percent of the estimated losses.
Improved Seismic Monitoring - Improved Decision Making: Assessing the Value of Reduced Uncertainty is currently available as a pre-publication draft:
California Integrated Seismic Network
www@cisn.org
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Part of the Advanced National Seismic System |
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Last modified: Sat Feb 4 12:51:32 PST 2006