Despite their relative infrequency, earthquakes cause major damage and loss of life when they do strike.
Studies show that hazard mitigation planning and taking action to reduce risk can greatly reduce the physical, financial, and emotional losses caused by disasters like earthquakes. On average, earthquake hazard mitigation saves at least $3 for each $1 spent.
Tools that people can use to discover the earthquake hazard where they live.
Discussion of what people can do to make their homes safer and more resilient.
The first podcast in this three-part set, episode 8, was released earlier this spring. In it, geologists Corina Allen, Adam Hiscock, and Jeri Young Ben-Horin discuss state geologic portals, what the portals can reveal, and how they can be used by the public to learn about the geologic hazards where they live.
Episode 9 presents seismic design category maps for International Residential Code and outlines how to use them to find the earthquake hazard at a given address. Dr. Mike Tong, a senior physical scientist at FEMA, and Kelly Cobeen, a civil and structural engineer, explain what seismic design categories are, how to find your category, and what you can learn from it. Included in the show notes is a link to a basic instruction page to help people find and interpret their seismic design category: What’s the Earthquake Hazard at Your Address?
In podcast episode 10, structural engineer Dan Sloat explains what earthquake shaking could do to a house or building, how people can discover their building’s vulnerabilities, and what can be done to reduce or prevent the damage.
The podcast recordings – along with transcripts, speakers’ bios, and show notes – are available on the Ready to Recover site (podcasts.crew.org) and through these podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music (just search for “Ready to Recover CREW”).
These podcasts are appropriate for a general audience and can be circulated as part of public education efforts to raise awareness about earthquakes and related hazards.
The Ready to Recover podcast series was produced with funding from FEMA through the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
