Factors and Interactions Contributing to the Risk of Fire following Earthquake for Urban Southern California

摘要

Earthquakes pose both primary and secondary threats to human life, health, and property. Primary threats include building collapse, landslide, and falling objects. Secondary threats may include tsunamis or fires. Fire following earthquake is a secondary earthquake risk that threatens urban populations in seismically active areas, such as Southern California. The damage from previous post-earthquake fires has far exceeded the damage from the earthquakes themselves.;Qualitative meta-analysis of many previous studies related to fire following earthquake is applied in this study to identify and describe the factors and interactions that contribute to the risk of fire following earthquake for urban Southern California. A simple risk assessment method is proposed that may inform decision makers of the degree of fire danger that exists following a significant earthquake. Application of the mitigation opportunities discussed in this study, hold the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in future earthquake events.