Development of a Rapid Assessment System for Building Damage Based on ShakeMap

In response to the urgent need to present the distribution of building damage and direct economic loss estimation in the shortest time (＜1 h) after a destructive earthquake, we developed an automatic system for rapidly assessing post-earthquake building damage using kilometer-grid economic carrier data and ArcGIS software. This system is based on the existing kilometer-grid of building and economic data in the north-south seismic zone, combined with the automatic quick report results and the rapid earthquake intensity report map, ShakeMap, from the seismic network. The test results show that for an earthquake of ~M7.0, the system can automatically output building distribution map in the disaster area, building damage status maps (slightly damaged, moderately damaged, severely damaged and destroyed) and the distribution of direct economic losses of buildings within 15 minutes after the event origin. This can provide basic information and scientific and technological support for rapid and accurate valuation of earthquake damages and economic losses of buildings in disaster areas.