🔎 GEM Earthquake Scenario Database

The development of probabilistic seismic risk assessment (PSRA) models requires stress-testing the various components of the models, often through the assessment of damage and losses considering the characteristics of past events¹. In this context, the GEM Foundation and its partners have expanded the OpenQuake scenario damage and loss calculator to use directly USGS ShakeMaps²³⁴, or earthquake data from other providers (e.g., INGV, EFEHR) or the scientific literature. This functionality allows users to generate cross-correlated ground motion fields considering recordings from seismic stations ⁵, and to compute a number of risk metrics based on different rupture solutions and ground motion models, and to compare the results against past observations and damage reports. An overview of the functionalities implemented within the OpenQuake-engine can be found in gem/oq-engine#8317.

✨ Overview

The Earthquake Scenario Database (ESD) aims at providing both earthquake and impact data for users to perform earthquake scenarios using GEM or their own models for validation and verification purposes. This database serves as a complement to the USGS ShakeMap Atlas and AtlasCat. The former resource has ShakeMaps for a comprehensive catalogue of nearly all near-damaging and damaging events worldwide for the past 120 years, and can be used directly for impact assessment within the OpenQuake-engine ⁴. The latter provides aggregate losses for each event separated by cause. The ESD builds upon these sources of data by collecting additional earthquake and impact information, often documented spatially and with greater detail.

The v2023.0.0 release for the GEM's Earthquake Scenario Database is available! 🥳 🚀

This database is open and aims at being a community effort, that enables users to add new events (see contributing guidelines) or to provide additional data to existing entries. We aim to continue expanding the ESD by leveraging on data often collected within the scope of GEM projects, as well as data previously collected as part of the GEM Earthquake Consequences Database.

🗺️ Database coverage

The database is compatible with GEM's Global Models, and the folders are organized according to regions and countries/territories, as specified in the map and table below.

🌍 Regions, countries and territories

REGION	COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES
Africa	Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina_Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape_Verde, Central_African_Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial_Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea_Bissau, Ivory_Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao_Tome_and_Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra_Leone, Somalia, South_Africa, South_Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Caribbean_Central_America	Anguilla, Antigua_and_Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British_Virgin_Islands, Cayman_Islands, Costa_Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican_Republic, El_Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto_Rico, Saint_Kitts_and_Nevis, Saint_Lucia, Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines, Trinidad_and_Tobago, Turks_and_Caicos_Islands, US_Virgin_Islands
Central_Asia	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
East_Asia	China, Hong_Kong, Japan, Macao, North_Korea, South_Korea, Taiwan
Europe	Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia_and_Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle_of_Man, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North_Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United_Kingdom
Middle_East	Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi_Arabia, Syria, United_Arab_Emirates, Yemen
North_America	Canada, Mexico, United_States_of_America
North_Asia	Mongolia, Russia
Oceania	American_Samoa, Australia, Cook_Islands, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall_Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New_Caledonia, New_Zealand, Niue, Northern_Mariana_Islands, Palau, Papua_New_Guinea, Samoa, Solomon_Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
South_America	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French_Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
South_Asia	Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri_Lanka
Southeast_Asia	Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor_Leste, Vietnam

List of available events

The database contains the following events, with a global summary of impact data available in the World folder.

🔖 List of available events

	Region	Country	Year	Event_Name	Mw	Depth_(km)	Max_Intensity_(MMI)
0	Africa	Algeria	2003	Boumerdes_2003	6.8	12	IX-X
1	Africa	Botswana	2017	Moijabana_2017	6.46	23.5	VIII
2	Africa	Egypt	1992	Cairo_1992	5.8	21.5	VIII
3	Africa	Malawi	1989	Salima	6.27	28.2	VIII
4	Africa	Malawi	2009	Karonga	6	6	VII
5	Africa	Morocco	2004	AlHoceima_2004	6.3	12.2	IX
6	Africa	Morocco	2023	MarrakeshSafi_2023	6.8	19	VIII
7	Africa	Tanzania	2016	Bukoba_2016	5.9	40	VII
8	Caribbean_Central_America	Costa_Rica	1991	Limon	7.6	10	VIII
9	Caribbean_Central_America	Costa_Rica	2009	Cinchona	6.2	4.6	IX in Cinchona e Isla Bonita
10	Caribbean_Central_America	Costa_Rica	2012	Nicoya	7.6	15.4	VII
11	Caribbean_Central_America	Costa_Rica	2017	Puntarenas_2017	6.5	22	VIII
12	Caribbean_Central_America	El_Salvador	2001	Subduction_2001	7.7	39	VIII
13	Caribbean_Central_America	El_Salvador	2001	San Vicente_2001	6.6	13	VIII
14	Caribbean_Central_America	Haiti	2010	Haiti	7	13	IX
15	Caribbean_Central_America	Haiti	2021	Haiti	7.2	10	VIII
16	East_Asia	Japan	1995	Kobe_1995	6.9	21.9	IX
17	East_Asia	Japan	2011	Tōhoku_2011	9.1	29	VIII
18	East_Asia	Japan	2016	Kumamoto_2016	7	10	IX
19	East_Asia	Japan	2018	Osaka_2018	5.5	10.3	VIII
20	East_Asia	Japan	2018	HokkaidoEasternIburi_2018	6.6	35	X
21	East_Asia	Japan	2019	Yamagata_2019	6.4	12	VII
22	Europe	Albania	2019	Durres	6.4	22	VIII
23	Europe	Croatia	2020	Zagreb_2020	5.3	10	VIII
24	Europe	Croatia	2020	Petrijna_2020	6.4	10	IX
25	Europe	Cyprus	1996	Cyprus	6.8	33	VI
26	Europe	Greece	1981	GulfofCorinth_1981	6.4	33	IX
27	Europe	Greece	1981	GulfofCorinth_1981	6.7	33	IX
28	Europe	Greece	1981	GulfofCorinth_1981	6.7	33	IX
29	Europe	Greece	1986	Kalamata_1986	6	11.2	X
30	Europe	Greece	1988	Elia_1988	5.9	25.2	VII
31	Europe	Greece	1995	Aigio_1995	6.5	14.2	VIII
32	Europe	Greece	1995	KozaniGrevena_1995	6.6	14	VIII
33	Europe	Greece	1999	Athens_1999	6	10	IX
34	Europe	Greece	2014	Kefalonia_2014	6.1	8	VII
35	Europe	Greece	2014	Kefalonia_2014	6.1	8	VIII
36	Europe	Greece	2014	Kefalonia_2014	6	5	VII
37	Europe	Greece	2015	Lefkada_2015	6.5	11	VIII
38	Europe	Greece	2017	AegeanSea_2017	6.3	12	VII
39	Europe	Iceland	2000	Iceland_2000	6.5	10	IX
40	Europe	Iceland	2000	Iceland	6.5	10	VIII
41	Europe	Iceland	2008	Iceland_2008	6.3	9	VIII
42	Europe	Italy	1980	Irpinia_1980	6.9	10	X
43	Europe	Italy	1990	Augusta_1990	5.6	11.1	VIII
44	Europe	Italy	1997	UmbriaMarche_1997	6	10	VIII
45	Europe	Italy	1997	UmbriaMarche_1997	5.5	10	VII
46	Europe	Italy	1997	UmbriaMarche_1997	5.7	10	VIII
47	Europe	Italy	1997	UmbriaMarche_1997	5.7	10	X
48	Europe	Italy	2002	Molise_2002	5.9	10	VIII
49	Europe	Italy	2002	Molise_2002	5.8	10	VII
50	Europe	Italy	2002	Molise_2002	5.9	10	VII
51	Europe	Italy	2004	Gardone_2004	5.1	17.2	VIII
52	Europe	Italy	2009	Laquila_2009	5.5	15.1	VI
53	Europe	Italy	2009	Laquila_2009	6.3	8.8	X
54	Europe	Italy	2009	Laquila_2009	6.3	8.8	VIII
55	Europe	Italy	2012	EmiliaRomagna_2012	6	6.3	VIII
56	Europe	Italy	2012	EmiliaRomagna_2012	6	6.3	VIII
57	Europe	Italy	2012	EmiliaRomagna_2012	5.8	10.2	VIII
58	Europe	Italy	2016	CentralItaly	6.6	4.44	IX
59	Europe	Italy	2016	CentralItaly_2016	6.6	8	IX
60	Europe	Italy	2016	CentralItaly_2016	6.1	10	VIII
61	Europe	Italy	2016	CentralItaly_2016	6.2	4.44	IX
62	Europe	Italy	2017	CentralItaly_2017	5.7	7	VII
63	Europe	Netherlands	1992	Roermond_1992	5.4	21.2	VIII
64	Europe	Romania	1990	Vrancea_1990	7	89.3	VIII
65	Europe	Romania	1990	Vrancea_1990	7	89.3	VIII
66	Europe	Romania	1990	Vrancea_1990	6.3	88.2	V
67	Europe	Serbia	2010	Kraljevo	5.5	0.9	VI
68	Europe	Spain	2011	Lorca_2011	5.1	1	VI
69	Europe	Turkey	1992	Erzincan	6.7	27.2	VIII
70	Europe	Turkey	1995	Dinar	6.4	33	VIII
71	Europe	Turkey	1998	AdanaCeyhan_1998	6.3	33	IV
72	Europe	Turkey	1999	Izmit	7.6	17	X
73	Europe	Turkey	1999	Duzce_1999	7.2	10	IX
74	Europe	Turkey	2011	Van_2011	7.1	18	VIII
75	Europe	Turkey	2020	AegeanSea_2020	7	21	VIII
76	Europe	Turkey	2023	CentralTurkey_2023	7.8	10	XII
77	Middle_East	Iran	1978	Tabas	7.3	33	IX
78	Middle_East	Iran	1990	Manjil-Rudbar	7.4	18.5	IX
79	Middle_East	Iran	1997	Golestan	6.1	10	VIII
80	Middle_East	Iran	1997	Qayen	7.2	10	IX
81	Middle_East	Iran	2003	Bam	6.6	10	IX
82	Middle_East	Iran	2005	Zarand	6.5	14	VIII
83	Middle_East	Iran	2012	Ahar-Varzaghan	6.2	12	VIII
84	Middle_East	Iran	2012	Ahar-Varzaghan	6.4	11	VII
85	Middle_East	Iran	2012	Ahar-Varzaghan	6.4	11	VII
86	Middle_East	Iran	2017	Sarpole-Zahab	7.3	18.1	IX
87	North_America	Mexico	1985	Mexico_Michoacan	8.1	15	VII
88	North_America	Mexico	1999	Oaxaca_1999	7.4	39	VIII
89	North_America	Mexico	2017	Puebla_2017	7.1	51.2	VIII
90	North_America	Mexico	2017	Chiapas_2017	8.2	45.9	VII
91	North_America	Mexico	2020	Oaxaca_2020	7.4	22.6	VIII
92	North_America	Mexico	2021	Guerrero_2021	7.1	10	VIII
93	Oceania	Australia	1989	Newcastle	5.4	10	VIII
94	Oceania	New_Zealand	2010	Canterbury_2010	7	12	VIII
95	Oceania	New_Zealand	2011	Christchurch_2011	6.1	5.9	IX
96	South_America	Chile	1960	Valdivia_1960	9.5	25	IX
97	South_America	Chile	2010	Maule_2010	8.8	30	VIII
98	South_America	Chile	2014	Iquique_2014	8.2	38.9	VIII
99	South_America	Chile	2015	Illapel_2015	8.3	22.44	VIII
100	South_America	Colombia	1983	Popayán_1983	5.6	15	VIII
101	South_America	Colombia	1994	Cacua_1994	6.8	10	IX
102	South_America	Colombia	1999	Armenia_1999	6.1	15	IX
103	South_America	Colombia	2004	Pizarro_2004	7.2	15	VIII
104	South_America	Colombia	2008	Quetame_2008	5.9	10	VII
105	South_America	Colombia	2023	El Calvario	6.1	10	VII
106	South_America	Ecuador	2016	Pedernales_2016	7.8	17	IX
107	South_America	Peru	2007	Pisco_2007	7.9	40	VIII
108	South_Asia	India	2011	Sikkim_2011	6.9	50	VIII
109	South_Asia	Nepal	2015	Gorkha_2015	7.8	8.22	IX
110	South_Asia	Pakistan	2005	Kashmir	7.6	26	IX
111	Southeast_Asia	Indonesia	2006	Yogyakarta	6.4	12.5	VIII
112	Southeast_Asia	Indonesia	2009	Padang	7.6	81	VIII

🚀 Model versions

Each version of the archive that is released can be accessed by changing from the main branch to the tag of a given version. The main branch could contain the work-in-progress of the next version of the model.

Version	Release Notes
v2023.0.0	First release with 100 earthquake scenario events.

🌟 Contributors

The authors are grateful for the input from dozens of collaborators.

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

🤔 Frequently asked questions

How to contribute?

You can follow the instructions indicated in the contributing guidelines.

Which version am I seeing? How to change the version?

By default, you will see the files in the repository in the main branch. Each version of the model that is released can be accessed is marked with a tag. By changing the tag version at the top of the repository, you can change see the files for a given version.

Note that the main branch could contain the work-in-progress of the next version of the model.

How do I download the data for a given version?

For each version, a related zip file is available in the release section.

References

Footnotes

1. Villar-Vega, M., Silva, V. (2017). Assessment of earthquake damage considering the characteristics of past events in South America. Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, 99:86-96. ↩

2. Silva V, Horspool N (2019). Combining USGS ShakeMaps and the OpenQuake-engine for damage and loss assessment. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics. 48(6):634-652. ↩

3. Worden, C. B., Thompson, E. M., Hearne, M. G., & Wald, D. J. (2020). ShakeMap Manual Online: technical manual, user’s guide, and software guide, U. S. Geological Survey. URL: http://usgs.github.io/shakemap/. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5066/F7D21VPQ. ↩

4. Wald, D. J., Worden, C. B., Thompson, E. M., & Hearne, M. G. (2022). ShakeMap operations, policies, and procedures. Earthquake Spectra, 38(1), 756–777. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930211030298. ↩ ↩²

5. Engler, D. T., Worden, C. B., Thompson, E. M., & Jaiswal, K. S. (2022). Partitioning Ground Motion Uncertainty When Conditioned on Station Data. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 112(2), 1060–1079. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120210177. ↩