Seattle map lets users explore the dangers of their neighborhoods
Dec 28, 2015, 11:21 AM
A new map developed by the Office of Emergency Management lets users find out just how dangerous their neighborhoods are when it comes to natural disasters. (City of Seattle)
(City of Seattle)
Ever wonder if you’ll be at risk during a natural disaster? Now there’s a map for that.
Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management published an interactive map that illustrates what areas of the city are susceptible to the top hazards. The Seattle Natural Hazard Explorer allows users to do an address search to see what natural hazards are most likely to impact them.
The map is an “indirect spinoff” from the New Yorker article that caused wide-spread concern in Western Washington, The Seattle Times reports. Outreach Coordinator Matt Auflick told the Times that during public classes and information sessions, Seattle residents were fixated on maps from the Seattle Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Analysis. Instead of making them decipher information in the 297-page report from 2014, Emergency Management decided to make it easier with the Natural Hazard Explorer.
The map details how Seattle’s neighborhoods will be impacted by earthquakes, tsunamis/seiches, liquefaction, landslides, and flooding. Sidebars help users understand exactly what they are looking at on the map, along with links to more in-depth information on the topics. Auflick told the Times that the information was pulled from other resources, such as the U.S. Geological Survey.
There’s more information that could be added to the map in the future, according to Auflick. That includes how roads and bridges could be impacted by natural disasters, the Times reports.
Unlike the New Yorker article published July, the map does not predict how many people will be injured or die during an earthquake. However, it does give an idea of just how much shaking the city will see. Look out, downtown Seattle.
