NTHMP - 2012 Tsunami Hazard/Risk Analysis Workshop: Purpose

2012 Tsunami Hazard/Risk Analysis Workshop

Purpose of Workshop

The NTHMP Mapping and Modeling Subcommittee (MMS) and Mitigation and Education Subcommittee (MES) held a Tsunami Hazard/Risk Analysis Workshop on July 25 and 26, 2012, at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. There were several motivations for the workshop, primarily to address the following:

Specific tasks in the NTHMP Strategic Plan:

Task 2.2: “Explore the feasibility of quantitative tsunami hazard analysis techniques including source determination and probability analyses by 2013.”
Task 1.9: “Recommend quantitative tsunami hazard analysis methodology (s), including source determination and probability analyses by 2013.”

In 2005, the President’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) call for action to: “Develop standardized and coordinated tsunami hazard and risk assessments for all coastal regions of the United States and its territories.”
In 2011, the National Academy of Science/National Research Council recommended that: “The NOAA and its NTHMP, in collaboration with researchers in social and physical sciences, should complete an initial national assessment of tsunami risk in the near term to guide prioritization of program elements. The national assessment should (1) incorporate the best possible relevant science (social and behavioral, geography, economic, engineering, oceanography, and geophysics) and (2) include broad stakeholder and scientific participation to ensure that efforts are responsive to the needs of at-risk communities and decision makers.”

Presently, the NHTMP is working on a new Strategic Plan to set the programs course for the next five years (Fiscal Years 2013 to 2017). Based on workshop findings, the NTHMP MMS and MES intend to include elements of the workshop in the new Strategic Plan to help capture the state-of-the-science in tsunami hazard analysis and set a course for future needs.