Articles
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing Articles by Author "Tierney, Kathleen J."
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Improving Theory and Research on Hazard Mitigation: Political Economy and Organizational Perspectives(Research Committee on Disasters, International Sociological Association, 1989-11) Tierney, Kathleen J.This paper opens with a discussion of the progress that has been made to date in research and theory on mitigation. It goes on to suggest approaches that, by addressing neglected aspects of mitigation-related issues, may improve our understanding of the topic. Woven through the paper are calls for several shifts in emphasis with respect to studies on mitigation: (1) from a social system, consensus model to a conflict model on society and community; (2) from an event-based, discontinuous concept of disaster and mitigation to a view that stresses the continuity between ongoing social life and the disruption occasioned by natural and technological agents; (3) from the study of the social consequences of disasters to the study of aspects of the social order that increase risk and lead to disasters; and (4) from an individualistic, social psychological approach to mitigation to a perspective that takes into account macrolevel social phenomena.Item A Methodology For Assessing The Risk Of Hazardous Materials Release Following Earthquakes - A Demonstration Study For The Los Angeles Area(1992) Seligson, Hope; Eguchi, Ronald; Tierney, Kathleen J.A methodology for estimating the risk of earthquake induced hazardous materials releases was developed for the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. Seismic hazard analyses, fragility modeling for facilities handling hazardous materials and data on airborne materials releases were used in the development of the methodology. The risk was estimated in terms of population within the study area exposed to hazardous materials as a result of a postulated earthquake event. The procedure was developed to be used as a tool by communities interested in regional hazard management. In order to demonstrate the methodology, Los Angeles County was selected as a study area. Population data was integrated into the methodology to predict the population exposure to hazardous materials releases for three earthquake scenarios: a Magnitude 8+ event on the San Andreas fault, a Magnitude 7 event on the Newport- Inglewood fault, and a Magnitude 5.9 simulation of the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake.