Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
november 2016

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natural hazards

NASA and FEMA hold asteroid emergency planning exercise in El Segundo, California

November 4, 2016

NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hosted an asteroid emergency planning exercise on October 25 in El Segundo, California. The exercise centered on a hypothetical event, in which an asteroid discovered in 2016 would hit southern California in 2020. 

The scenario presented a unique challenge for emergency managers, who typically plan for higher-probability events, such as wildfires and floods, with much less lead time. Because the public knew four years ahead that an asteroid was going to strike, emergency managers faced many challenges fielding public responses and media reports as communities awaited their doom. NASA researchers also faced challenges during the exercise, as they attempted to calculate the location and radius of the asteroid, as well as the damage it would cause.

The exercise was the third in a series of asteroid hazard workshops that were developed to foster collaboration between NASA and FEMA under the NASA’s recently established Planetary Defense Coordination Office. A previous exercise held in Houston in 2013 focused on a scenario in which NASA attempted to stop an asteroid impact by deflecting it using spacecraft designed to change the object’s course via direct impact.

Sources: NASA.gov

National Academy of Sciences hosts Cascadia Subduction Zone panel

November 10, 2016

On November 10, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) hosted a panel discussion on the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) and its potential for large scale fault rupture. Research from a number of academic institutions has suggested that such a rupture is capable of producing a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which could devastate coastal regions of Washington, Oregon, northern California, and British Columbia. The NAS event was separated into three panels and ended with a discussion on preparedness, response, and mitigation techniques for a potential earthquake.

Panelists from the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discussed the need for better monitoring and risk assessment tools in case of a CSZ earthquake. Dr. Kelin Wang, a research scientist with GSC, outlined the benefits of installing geodetic and seismic sensors on the seafloor along the coast from British Columbia to northern California to help determine the possibility of a CSZ earthquake. Dr. Joan Gomberg, a research geophysicist with the USGS, outlined methods that more accurately quantify risk from natural hazards. She also mentioned the importance of agency partnerships that disseminate information and  warning messages ahead of these risks. The final panel highlighted the progress of FEMA’s risk assessment mapping in Oregon, which now covers 11 coastal counties.

The NAS event ended with a discussion of the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act (H.R.34), and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), which both provide research and funding for natural hazard mitigation.

Sources: Congress.gov, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Academy of Sciences