Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

Meteorological Analysis of the Forcett-Dunalley Wildfire in 2013 in Tasmania, Australia
Ivana Čavlina Tomašević, Paul Fox-Hughes, Kevin Cheung, Višnjica Vučetić, Jon Marsden-Smedley, Paul Beggs, and Maja Telišman Prtenjak
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-210,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
We have analyzed a severe wildfire event in Tasmania, Australia that also developed thunderstorm clouds. The drivers of this compound hazard were highly complex, which included climatic factors (above normal heavy rain seasons followed by heatwave), weather systems (fronts and high winds) to heighten fire severity and unstable atmosphere to develop thunderstorm clouds, all in coincidence. Such event has demonstrated the difficulty to assess wildfire risk in a warming climate.

Impact-based flood forecasting in the Greater Horn of Africa
Lorenzo Alfieri, Andrea Libertino, Lorenzo Campo, Francesco Dottori, Simone Gabellani, Tatiana Ghizzoni, Alessandro Masoero, Lauro Rossi, Roberto Rudari, Nicola Testa, Eva Trasforini, Ahmed Amdihun, Jully Ouma, Luca Rossi, Yves Tramblay, Huan Wu, and Marco Massabò
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 199–224, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-199-2024, 2024
This work describes Flood-PROOFS East Africa, an impact-based flood forecasting system for the Greater Horn of Africa. It is based on hydrological simulations, inundation mapping, and estimation of population and assets exposed to upcoming river floods. The system supports duty officers in African institutions in the daily monitoring of hydro-meteorological disasters. A first evaluation shows the system performance for the catastrophic floods in the Nile River basin in summer 2020.

The impact of long-term changes in ocean waves and storm surge on coastal shoreline change: A case study of Bass Strait and south-east Australia
Mandana Ghanavati, Ian Young, Ebru Kirezci, and Jin Liu
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-205,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
The paper examines the changes in shoreline position of the coast of south-east Australia over a 26 year period to determine if changes are consistent with observed changes in ocean wave and storm surge climate. The results show that in regions where there have been significant changes in wave energy flux or wave direction there have been changes in shoreline position consistent with non-equilibrium longshore drift.

The quest for reference stations at the National Observatory of Athens, Greece
Olga-Joan Ktenidou, Antonia Papageorgiou, Erion-Vasilis Pikoulis, Spyros Liakopoulos, Fevronia Gkika, Ziya Cekinmez, Panagiotis Savvaidis, Kalliopi Fragouli, and Christos P. Evangelidis
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-233,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 1 comment)
Greek seismic data are valuable in European and even global databases, due to its high seismicity and numerous seismic stations. Seismic data coming from stations that lie on rock (i.e., not soil) sits are particularly valuable in seismology to define reference ground conditions and ground motions. However, little knowledge exists yet on how rock stations in Greece behave. This is the first time the network of the National Observatory is studied systematically to reveal reference stations.

Tsunami Hazard Assessment in the South China Sea Based on Geodetic Locking of the Manila Subduction Zone
Guangsheng Zhao and Xiaojing Niu
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-227,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
The purpose of this study is to estimate the spatial distribution of the tsunami hazard in the South China Sea from the Manila subduction zone. The plate motion data is used to invert the degree of locking on the fault plane. The degree of locking is used to estimate the maximum possible magnitude of earthquakes and describe the slip distribution. A spatial distribution map of the 1000-year return period tsunami wave height in the South China Sea was obtained by tsunami hazard assessment.

Quantitative Study of Storm Surge Risk Assessment in Undeveloped Coastal Area of China Based on Deep Learning and Geographic Information System (GIS) Techniques: A Case Study of Double-Moon Bay Zone
Lichen Yu, Shining Huang, Hao Qin, Wei Wei, and Lin Mu
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-199,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
This paper proposes a quantitative storm surge risk assessment method for data-deficient regions. A coupled model is used to simulate five storm surge scenarios. Deep learning is used to extract building footprints. Economic losses are calculated by combining the adjusted depth-damage functions with inundation simulation results. Zonation maps illustrate risk levels based on economic losses, aiding in disaster prevention measures to reduce coastal area losses.

Identifying vulnerable populations in urban society: a case study in a flood-prone district of Wuhan, China
Jia Xu, Makoto Takahashi, and Weifu Li
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 179–197, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-179-2024, 2024
Through the development of micro-individual social vulnerability indicators and cluster analysis, this study assessed the level of social vulnerability of 599 residents from 11 communities in the Hongshan District of Wuhan. The findings reveal three levels of social vulnerability: high, medium, and low. Quantitative assessments offer specific comparisons between distinct units, and the results indicate that different types of communities have significant differences in social vulnerability.

Update on the seismogenic potential of the Upper Rhine Graben southern region
Sylvain Michel, Clara Duverger, Laurent Bollinger, Jorge Jara, and Romain Jolivet
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 163–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-163-2024, 2024
The Upper Rhine Graben, located in France and Germany, is bordered by north–south-trending faults, posing a potential threat to dense population and infrastructures on the Alsace plain. We build upon previous seismic hazard studies of the graben by exploring uncertainties in greater detail, revisiting a number of assumptions. There is a 99 % probability that a maximum-magnitude earthquake would be below 7.3 if assuming a purely dip-slip mechanism or below 7.6 if assuming a strike-slip one.

Review article: Physical Vulnerability Database for Critical Infrastructure Multi-Hazard Risk Assessments – A systematic review and data collection
Sadhana Nirandjan, Elco E. Koks, Mengqi Ye, Raghav Pant, Kees C. H. van Ginkel, Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, and Philip J. Ward
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-208,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Critical infrastructures (CI) are exposed to natural hazards, which may result in significant damage and burden society. The vulnerability is a key determinant for reducing these risks, yet crucial information is scattered in literature. Our study reviews over 1,250 fragility and vulnerability curves for CI assets, creating a unique publicly available physical vulnerability database that can directly be used for hazard risk assessments, including floods, earthquakes, windstorms and landslides.

Forearc crustal faulting and estimated worst-case tsunami scenario in the upper plate of subduction zones. Case study of the Morne Piton Fault system (Lesser Antilles, Guadeloupe Archipelago)
Melody Philippon, Jean Roger, Jean Frédéric Lebrun, Isabelle Thinon, Océane Foix, Stéphane Mazzotti, Marc-André Gutscher, Leny Montheil, and Jean-Jacques Cornée
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-222,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Using novel geophysical datasets we reassess the slip rate of the Morne Piton Fault (Lesser Antilles) at 0.2 mm.yr-1, dividing by five previous estimations and thus increasing the earthquake time recurrence and lowering the associated hazard. We evaluate a plausible magnitude for a potential seismic event of Mw 6.5 ± 0.5. Our multi-segment tsunami model representative for the worst-case scenario gives an overview of tsunami generation if the whole Fault segments would ruptured together.

Exploiting radar polarimetry for nowcasting thunderstorm hazards using deep learning
Nathalie Rombeek, Jussi Leinonen, and Ulrich Hamann
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 133–144, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-133-2024, 2024
Severe weather such as hail, lightning, and heavy rainfall can be hazardous to humans and property. Dual-polarization weather radars provide crucial information to forecast these events by detecting precipitation types. This study analyses the importance of dual-polarization data for predicting severe weather for 60 min using an existing deep learning model. The results indicate that including these variables improves the accuracy of predicting heavy rainfall and lightning.

An assessment of potential improvements in social capital, risk awareness, and preparedness from digital technologies
Tommaso Piseddu, Mathilda Englund, and Karina Barquet
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 145–161, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-145-2024, 2024
Contributions to social capital, risk awareness, and preparedness constitute the parameters to test applications in disaster risk management. We propose an evaluation of four of these: mobile positioning data, social media crowdsourcing, drones, and satellite imaging. The analysis grants the opportunity to investigate how different methods to evaluate surveys' results may influence final preferences. We find that the different assumptions on which these methods rely deliver diverging results.

Proposal for a new meteotsunami intensity index
Clare Lewis, Tim Smyth, Jess Neumann, and Hannah Cloke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 121–131, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-121-2024, 2024
Meteotsunami are the result of atmospheric disturbances and can impact coastlines causing injury, loss of life, and damage to assets. This paper introduces a novel intensity index to allow for the quantification of these events at the shoreline. This has the potential to assist in the field of natural hazard assessment. It was trialled in the UK but designed for global applicability and to become a widely accepted standard in coastal planning, meteotsunami forecasting, and early warning systems.

Compound droughts under climate change in Switzerland
Christoph Nathanael von Matt, Regula Mülchi, Lukas Gudmundsson, and Olivia Martius
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-6,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
The simultaneous occurrence of meteorological (precipitation), agricultural (soil moisture) and hydrological (streamflow) drought can lead to augmented impacts. By analysing drought indices derived from newest climate scenarios for Switzerland (CH2018, Hydro-CH2018), we show that with climate change the concurrence of all drought types will increase in all investigated regions of Switzerland. Our results highlight the benefits and need of both mitigation and adaptation measures at early stages.

Spatial accessibility of emergency medical services under inclement weather: a case study in Beijing, China
Yuting Zhang, Kai Liu, Xiaoyong Ni, Ming Wang, Jianchun Zheng, Mengting Liu, and Dapeng Yu
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 63–77, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-63-2024, 2024
This article is aimed at developing a method to quantify the influence of inclement weather on the accessibility of emergency medical services (EMSs) in Beijing, China, and identifying the vulnerable areas that could not get timely EMSs under inclement weather. We found that inclement weather could reduce the accessibility of EMSs by up to 40%. Furthermore, towns with lower baseline EMSs accessibility are more vulnerable when inclement weather occurs.

Review article: Current approaches and critical issues in multi-risk recovery planning of urban areas exposed to natural hazards
Soheil Mohammadi, Silvia De Angeli, Giorgio Boni, Francesca Pirlone, and Serena Cattari
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 79–107, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-79-2024, 2024
This paper critically reviews disaster recovery literature from a multi-risk perspective. Identified key challenges encompass the lack of approaches integrating physical reconstruction and socio-economic recovery, the neglect of multi-risk interactions, the limited exploration of recovery from a pre-disaster planning perspective, and the low consideration of disaster recovery as a non-linear process in which communities need change over time.

Earthquake forecasting model for Albania: the area source model and the smoothing model
Edlira Xhafaj, Chung-Han Chan, and Kuo-Fong Ma
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 109–119, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-109-2024, 2024
Our study introduces new earthquake forecasting models for Albania, aiming to map out future seismic hazards. By analysing earthquakes from 1960 to 2006, we have developed models that predict where activity is most likely to occur, highlighting the western coast and southern regions as high-hazard zones. Our validation process confirms these models are effective tools for anticipating seismic events, offering valuable insights for earthquake preparedness and hazard assessment efforts.

Shoreline and Land Use Land Cover Changes along the 2004 tsunami-affected South Andaman Coast: Understanding Changing Hazard Susceptibility
Vikas Ghadamode, K. Kumari Aruna, Anand K. Pandey, and Kirti Srivastava
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-191,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
In the 2004-Tsunami affected southern Andaman region tsunami wave propagation, arrival times, and run-up heights at 13 locations are computed to analyse pre- and post-tsunami shoreline and LULC changes to understand the evolving hazard scenario. The LULC changes and dynamic shoreline changes are observed in Zones 3, 4, and 5 owing to dynamic population changes, infrastructural growth, and Gross State Domestic Product growth. Economic losses would increase five-fold foa a similar tsunami.

Testing the 2020 European Seismic Hazard Model (ESHM20) against observations from Romania
Elena F. Manea, Laurentiu Danciu, Carmen O. Cioflan, Dragos Toma-Danila, and Matt Gerstenberger
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https//doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-232,2024
Preprint under review for NHESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
We test and evaluate the results of the 2020 European Seismic Hazard Model (ESHM20; Danciu et al., 2021) against observations spamming over a few centuries at twelve cities in Romania. The full distribution of the hazard curves at the given location was considered, and the testing was done for two relevant peak ground acceleration (PGA) values. Our analysis suggests that the observed exceedance rates for the selected PGA levels are consistent with ESHM20 estimates.

Estimating emergency costs for earthquakes and floods in Central Asia based on modelled losses
Emilio Berny, Carlos Avelar, Mario A. Salgado-Gálvez, and Mario Ordaz
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 53–62, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-53-2024, 2024
This paper presents a methodology to estimate the total emergency costs based on modelled damages for earthquakes and floods, together with the demographic and building characteristics of the study area. The methodology has been applied in five countries in central Asia, the first time that these estimates are made available for the study area and are intended to be useful for regional and local stakeholders and decision makers.