White House, Congress Rethink National Earthquake Strategy

Abstract

For federal policy makers, the devastating 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes were powerful and costly reminders of the need for an effective national earthquake strategy. This need is further supported by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates that the population in the most seismically active regions of the United States will double by the year 2010. Given the immense cost of earthquakes and other natural disasters, both the Clinton Administration and Congress have been considering ways to improve this country's current strategy. Last fall, both the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), and the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) released reports on this issue, and FEMA released its first ever national mitigation strategy for all natural hazards. In addition, Congress has begun to consider legislation to revise the existing National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and retool...