Merging Virtual and Real Environments for Visualizing Seismic Hazards and Risk

TL;DR

This paper presents an immersive visualization approach using a CAVE system to simulate and communicate seismic hazards and risks, integrating hazard data, structural responses, and emergency scenarios for enhanced understanding.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integration of seismic hazard modeling with immersive visualization technology to improve risk communication and scenario analysis.

Findings

Visualized the ShakeOut scenario in a virtual environment.

Demonstrated communication of site-specific seismic risks.

Enabled immersive emergency response simulation.

Abstract

Earthquake research in the last few decades has led to considerable advances in seismic hazard and risk modeling across academia, industry, and government. Technological advances such as high performance computing and visualization can further facilitate earthquake hazard and risk research. This work utilizes the CAVE of the Marquette Visualization Laboratory to visualize seismic hazards and risk by integrating hazard characterization, structural modeling, and emergency response. Building upon the framework of performance-based earthquake engineering, site-specific ground motions, which link seismic hazards to structural responses, serve as loading inputs to structural models. The resulting structural responses can then be translated into damage states of building elements in the immediate room environment based on fragility functions. To illustrate, we display a map of the Los Angeles region with ground motions for the Mw7.8 ShakeOut scenario, create a virtual room in a residential building subjected to such earthquake shaking, and simulate emergency response in this immersive environment. The illustrative visualization can be extended to various scenarios and help communicate site- and structure-specific hazards and risk to the general public.