EARTHQUAKES 

AT ALTITUDE

Sean McGowan, PE

Earthquake Program Manager & 

Building Science Lead

FEMA Region 8
Outline

• Introduction

• Utah Earthquake Risk

• Wasatch Front Unreinforced Masonry (URM) Risk

Reduction Strategy

• Connection to Insurance
FEMA Region 8

America’s Crumple ZoneTM
No Geology Degree Required!

Wasatch 

Fault
Wasatch Fault Magnitude 6.75+ Next 50 Years

~1 in 5 chance
Disaster Movie-level Losses
Unreinforced Masonry

Unreinforced Masonry (URM) Buildings don’t 

have any steel holding the brittle bricks together.

URMs experience life-threatening damage at 

low levels of shaking.
URM Impacts on the Public

URM walls can often collapse outwards

Falling bricks are common killers during 

earthquakes

Endanger pedestrians and undamaged adjacent 

buildings

 Makes a private risk a public one
Utah’s Killer Buildings

High concentration of URMs

30,000+ in Salt Lake City

147,000 in 12 county Wasatch Front

~440k people at risk!
Economics

URMs persist because they are 

economically viable. Victorian, Tudor, 

Georgian, and brownstone style 

buildings are sought after as homes 

and workplaces. 
Solutions

Many of the deaths we expect during a Wasatch earthquake are preventable

through a combination of solutions, some of which have been tested in other cities.

POLICY ECONOMIC ENGINEERING

Recent Progress
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)

Building Resilient 

Infrastructure and 

Communities 

(BRIC): $1 Billion 

in grants available
FEMA grants offer 75%/25% cost sharing

 Uncle Sam provides $0.75, you provide the 

last $0.25

 Huge opportunity for innovative leadership

 Private contributions

 Capital funds

 Philanthropic donations

 In-kind contributions
National Mitigation Investment Strategy 

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Goal 

1

Show How Mitigation Investments Reduce Risk:

Objective: Prove mitigation investment protects what we value.

Goal 

2

Coordinate Mitigation Investments to Reduce Risk:

Objective: Share risk info to support investment and incentive decisions; streamline 

funding access.

Goal 

3

Make Mitigation Investment Standard Practice:

Objective: Facilitate mitigation activities (enhancing building codes) and access to 

risk transfer vehicles (like insurance!)
Wasatch Front Unreinforced 

Masonry Risk Reduction Strategy
URM Strategy: 110 pages, 1 slide

• 20 authors & 27 reviewers: representing 22 agencies,

companies, and nonprofits - 600+ reviewer comments 

• Funding ideas – linking Federal/State grants

• Creative solutions: tax breaks, Historic Preservation

credits, insurance premium reduction

• Engineering analysis of retrofit levels

• Examples of effective model ordinances

• Roadmap for public engagement and soliciting buy-in

• Pros/Cons of Voluntary and Mandatory programs

• Overcoming obstacles

...all of which leverages local expertise and input.

Released: March 18th
URM Strategy: Goal 1

Establish a statewide URM risk 

reduction program

• Emphasis: leverage multiple 

existing Federal and State 

funding sources 

• Identify new funding streams 

and program linkages - case 

studies from around the U.S. 
URM Strategy: Goal 2

Protect schools 

• Set aggressive dates to repurpose,

retrofit, or demolish URM schools

• Technical support to local school

districts - guide through (BRIC) grant

application process

West Lake Junior High

Image source: Deseret News
URM Strategy: Goal 3

Retrofit or relocate 

government facilities

• Prioritize facilities needed for 

post-disaster short and long- term recovery 

• Not just traditional “critical 

facilities”, but locations like 

building departments and job 

training centers

Utah Geological Survey
Connection to Insurance
Education & Outreach

• Earthquake insurance penetration is 

extremely low nationally

• FEMA post-disaster grants to 

individuals are relatively small

• Can insurers be a conduit for 

mitigation-related steps to reduce 

risk (to homeowner and insurer?)

Connection to 

Insurance
New(ish) Ideas

• Parametric policies provide 

immediate benefit while capping 

potential payout

• Third-party certifications – do we 

need a definitive standard for 

earthquake resilience?

Connection to 

Insurance
“A FORTIFIED designation may qualify you 

for annual wind mitigation credit that could lower 

your insurance premium.”

Connection to 

Insurance
Opportunities to align benefits?

• Incentivize retrofits with reduced 

premiums?

• Multi-peril retrofits: earthquake 

strengthening can help resist wind

• Rather than react (e.g., fire 

mitigation crews), can we better 

incentivize up-front mitigation?

• Would standardized State/Fed 

retrofit data help actuaries justify?

Connection to 

Insurance
What’s Your Take?

Sean McGowan, PE

FEMA Region VIII

Denver, CO

Sean.McGowan@fema.dhs.gov

303-235-4681
5 Goals

1. Establish a statewide URM risk reduction program

2. Protect schools: retrofit, repurpose, or 

demolish vulnerable schools.

3. Mitigate critical government facilities to facilitate recovery

4. Tighten existing building code loopholes at the state level

5. Empower local communities to enforce 

their existing retrofit requirements & 

enhance as locally appropriate.