1) The 6th anniversary of the Tohoku, Japan, earthquake
2) The 28th anniversary of the Loma Prieta, California, or “World Series,” earthquake
3) The 32th anniversary of the Michoacán, Mexico, earthquake
Correct answer: The M7.1 Puebla, Mexico, earthquake occurred on September 19, 2017, exactly 32 years after the 1985 Michoacán earthquake, the most serious natural disaster in Mexico’s recorded history.
4) The 10th anniversary of the Umbria-Marche, Italy, earthquake
1) Add two new colors
2) Change the upper bound of its precipitation scale
3) Neither 1 nor 2
4) Both 1 and 2
Correct answer: Both 1 and 2. The National Weather Service (NWS) precipitation scale—before Harvey’s approach—used 13 colors from light green to dark purple to illustrate precipitation from 0.1 inch to more than 15 inches. As Hurricane Harvey approached, the NWS changed what the dark purple represented from “greater than 15 inches” to “15 to 20 inches” of rain and added two more colors of lighter purple to represent “20 to 30 inches” and “greater than 30 inches.” They needed the new colors: some towns had more than 45 inches of rainfall, with a few receiving more than 50.
1) The Great Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928
Correct answer: As the first recorded hurricane to reach what is now considered Category 5 status in the Atlantic Basin, the 1928 Great Okeechobee Hurricane is one of the 10 most intense storms documented to make landfall in the United States (landfall was in West Palm Beach, Florida) and it remains the only storm of Category 5 intensity to have made landfall in Puerto Rico.
2) Hurricane Donna in 1960
3) Hurricane Betsy in 1965
4) Hurricane Andrew in 1992
1) Tsunami and liquefaction
2) Liquefaction and fire following
3) Landslide and sprinkler leakage
4) Tsunami and landslide
Correct answer: The updated AIR Earthquake Model for the United States features tsunami as a new sub-peril for the West Coast and the Cascadia Subduction Zone. While the risk of tsunami mainly affects the West Coast, the risk of earthquake-triggered landslide impacts the entire country. Newly supported in the updated U.S. earthquake model is a landslide module that incorporates Digital Elevation Model (DEM), geological, and precipitation data to capture the damaging effects of earthquake-triggered landslides for the contiguous United States.
1) July
2) August
3) September
4) October
Correct answer: October. Five of the six most destructive wildfires in the State of California have occurred in October. The top five are, in order: Oakland Hills Fire, October 1991; Cedar Fire, October 2003; Valley Fire, September 2015; Witch Fire, October 2007; and Old Fire 2003. It remains to be seen where this October’s Northern California wildfires rank. In addition to California, the following 12 states will be covered in AIR’s new U.S. wildfire model anticipated for release in 2018: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
