GIS-based tools for earthquake risk assessment of point and spatially distributed lifeline systems

This study has created a real-time interactive set of GIS tools which can be used to predict the seismic performance of constructed point and distributed facilities such as bridges and gas and fluid pipelines.;Three independent interactive systems were created to cover the broad scope of the problems considered, tools for the prediction of the spatial distribution of attenuated earthquake ground motion over large geographic regions, and sets of integrated interactive computational tools for the assessment of the Earthquake Vulnerability of point and continuously distributed constructed facilities.;All of the analysis systems developed are based on an object-oriented system approach and can be divided into two major components. (1) The use of a Geographic Information System such as ARC/INFO as an integrating platform to manage non-spatial and spatial data, to carry out spatial query, analysis and display and to construct the graphic user interface. (2) Separate seismic engineering and vulnerability models programed as object modules and integrated with the GIS to predict seismic hazard loadings and the corresponding levels of damage of lifeline facilities due to a historic or user generated earthquake event.;The analysis and prediction system has two outstanding characteristics; first is its interactive and graphic capability. A user can choose a historical earthquake or define his/her earthquake. This makes real time earthquake simulation of seismic risk assessment possible. The graphic user interface enables relatively non-technical persons to carry out seismic analysis using a common English language approach without having to know too much about computer-oriented details inside the analysis system. Although the analysis presented uses New York State as an example, the analysis system can be extended to any states or areas provided that the datasets needed are accessible. By developing the system as an object-oriented program, it is possible to plug in and out different theoretical models such as vulnerability, soil liquefaction or ground motion attenuation. It would then be possible to carry out a comparison of the earthquake response for any set of selected models. Where data is available the results could compare the impacts of actual earthquakes with the predicted results.