The purpose of this research is to examine how cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can be utilized to evaluate the attractiveness of mitigation for lifeline systems subject to earthquake ground motion. We propose a framework for the CBA that can be used in conjunction with work being completed by other researchers at MCEER (Shinozuka et al., 2000; Chang et al., 2000). With their development of fragilit...

Sediments tell a tsunami story Trying to understand where major earthquakes and tsunamis might occur requires analysis of the sediments pouring into a subduction zone. Thick sediments were expected to limit earthquake and tsunami size in the Sumatran megathrust event in 2004, but the magnitude 9.2 earthquake defied expectations. Hüpers et al. analyzed sediments recovered from the Sumatran megat...

Many experts encourage homeowners to improve their houses to better survive natural catastrophes and reduce overall societal costs. However, we find these encouragements are not necessarily financially sound for the homeowner at risk of hurricane wind damage. We find that subsidized insurance reduces the incentive for a risk-neutral homeowner to purchase structural mitigation, as mitigation doe...

Urban planning rules and considering land use regarding faults can change the consequences of natural hazard such as earthquake. Vulnerability risk is increasing in Region 1 because of existence of the north fault, steep slopes and continuous construction of high-rise buildings. It is clear that Region 1’s Master Plan shouldn’t be prepared without considering natural hazard such as ...

Anxiety prepares an organism for dealing with threats by recruiting cognitive resources to process information about the threat, and by engaging physiological systems to prepare a response. Heightened trait anxiety is associated with biases in both these processes: high trait-anxious individuals tend to report heightened risk perceptions, and inappropriate engagement in danger mitigation behavi...