The USGS Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project completed its first major project with the release of the ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario. It took a little more than a year to complete and brought together over 300 scientists, academics, and industry professionals to put flesh and bone on a collective nightmare – a hypothetical magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas Fault – the “Big One.” The ShakeOut Scenario is the most comprehensive analysis ever done regarding the impacts and implications of a major earthquake on southern California’s people, buildings, infrastructure, economy and society. The ShakeOut Scenario will now provide the scientific framework for the largest-ever earthquake response exercises and preparedness drills, beginning November 13, 2008 at 10 a.m. (The Great Southern California ShakeOut). Thank you to all who supported the Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project in this endeavor. The ShakeOut Scenario project concluded just one week after a very similar, but unfortunately, very real magnitude 7.9 earth earthquake hit China, emphasizing the need for preparedness.
ShakeOut Scenario News Release
For a general interest summary of the project, download:
The ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario; a story that southern Californians are writing
Perry, Suzanne, Cox, Dale, Jones, Lucile, Bernknopf, Richard, Goltz, James, Hudnut, Kenneth, Mileti, Dennis, Ponti, Daniel, Porter, Keith, Reichle, Michael, Seligson, Hope, Shoaf, Kimberley, Treiman, Jerry, and Wein, Anne, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1324 and California Geological Survey Special Report 207, 16 p. [http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1324/].
For the scientific report about the project, download:
The ShakeOut Scenario
Jones, Lucile M., Bernknopf, Richard, Cox, Dale, Goltz, James, Hudnut, Kenneth, Mileti, Dennis, Perry, Suzanne, Ponti, Daniel, Porter, Keith, Reichle, Michael, Seligson, Hope, Shoaf, Kimberley, Treiman, Jerry, and Wein, Anne, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1150 and California Geological Survey Preliminary Report 25 [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1150/].
