Earthquake Scenarios
In planning and coordinating emergency response, utilities, local government, and other organizations are best served by conducting training exercises based on realistic earthquake situations—ones similar to those they are most likely to face. ShakeMap Scenario earthquakes can fill this role. They can also be used to examine exposure of structures, lifelines, utilities, and transportation corridors to specified potential earthquakes.
A ShakeMap earthquake scenario is a predictive ShakeMap with an assumed magnitude and location, and, optionally, specified fault geometry.
This 2017 collection of nearly 800 ShakeMap earthquake scenarios is the authoritative U.S.G.S. collection for the continental U.S. The scenario fault ruptures are derived from the latest National Seismic Hazard Model for the U.S. (Petersen et al, 2014); the collection of events is known as the 2014 Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) catalog. For this BSSC ShakeMap catalog, we leverage ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Online to display locations, ruptures, and maximum shaking intensities. Each ShakeMap can be selected and any format of each can downloaded.
U.S. Map and List of Scenarios for Building Seismic Safety Council 2014 Event Set
See bssc2014 catalog link below for more detailed information about this scenario collection. Legacy scenario catalogs are included for archival purposes.
ShakeMap Scenario Documentation
(links to ShakeMap Manual section 3.3.3)
All Scenario Catalogs
Related Scenarios and Exercises
Related scenario efforts include ongoing and past ShakeOut exercises, drills, and 3-D simulations.
- "Ardent Sentry "Southern California ShakeOut - M7.8 on the Southern San Andreas Fault (2012 update)
- Southern California ShakeOut - M7.8 on the Southern San Andreas Fault (2008)
- Great Utah ShakeOut (2012) - M7 on the Wasatch Fault
- Computer Simulation of a Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone
- Central & Eastern US Scenarios for 2011 National Level Exercise
- Animation of ground motions recorded by the San Jose Dense Seismic Array from the M5.6 earthquake near Scotty's Junction, NV
- Hayward Fault Scenarios
- HayWired Aftershock Planning Scenarios
- Computer Simulation of a Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake on the Seattle Fault
- Simulation of the 2001 M6.8 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake
- Simulation of Seismic Energy Focussing in West Seattle
- Animation of Ground Motions Produced by the Implosion of the Kingdome