Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Assessment
SPA can quantify risk from earthquake shaking, liquefaction, fire following earthquake, hurricane, and other perils, for individual facilities, groups of facilities, or large portfolios such as concern property insurers and local governments. We perform benefit-cost analysis of catastrophe risk mitigation.
Qualifications
Scawthorn developed one of the first approaches to assessing building-specific seismic vulnerability on a theoretical basis, as well as developing empirical seismic vulnerability functions from earthquake experience data. He created pioneering commercial and public-domain loss-estimation software for earthquake (EQEHAZARD), wind (USWIND), and flood (HAZUS). He developed the first stochastic modeling program to estimate the effects of fire following earthquake and applied the software for major insurance studies and for the benefit of cities for use in fire risk mitigation. He led the first national overview of lifeline seismic vulnerability and direct and indirect economic impact of disruption, including electric systems, water systems, transportation systems, gas and liquid fuel supply systems, and emergency service facilities. Dr Scawthorn developed rapid visual screening tools for potential seismic risk as well as data-collection protocols for improving risk evaluation based on observable, detailed earthquake damage information.
Porter advanced building-specific seismic vulnerability assessment, creating a detailed formalized methodology that accounts for all important sources of uncertainty and is capable of estimating probabilistic repair costs, repair duration, loss of function, and loss of life safety. He has employed this methodology to quantify the benefit of seismic retrofit for woodframe, steel, and reinforced concrete buildings. He has estimated for the largest US earthquake insurer the reduction in expected annualized loss if insureds seismically retrofit their homes. He has coordinated a multi-university effort to develop a second-generation performance-based earthquake engineering methodology and to apply it to buildings and bridges. He has developed empirical wind vulnerability functions for USWIND and quantified the effects of liquefaction on buried pipeline. Dr Porter has evaluated for city governments the costs and benefits of competing measures to mitigate the risk from unreinforced masonry bearing-wall buildings.
Past studies
A benefit-cost analysis of all FEMA-funded hazard mitigation since 1993. Porter helped to lead this Congressionally mandated study by the National Institute of Building Sciences that showed, "for the first time ever, that there is now quantifiable evidence that disaster mitigation works.” Click here for press release or a link to the study report.
Key Benefits
 | Evaluation by experts who have led development of multi-hazard risk-evaluation techniques |
| Experience with US and international facilities |
| Familiarity with structural, nonstructural, equipment, and other components |