HAZUS Loss Estimation

HAZUS loss estimation is FEMA's standardized, GIS-based methodology for estimating the physical, social, and economic consequences of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis across a region. It chains together four conceptual modules, potential hazard, inventory of the built environment, direct physical damage, and induced and economic losses, so that a consistent national framework can produce comparable loss estimates anywhere in the United States. Charles Kircher, Robert Whitman, and William Holmes's 2006 paper documents the earthquake methodology, including its use of capacity-spectrum demand estimation and lognormal fragility curves, and FEMA's technical manuals specify every default inventory, fragility, and loss parameter. The system is distinguished less by methodological novelty than by standardization: it packages decades of earthquake and flood loss science into reproducible software with vetted defaults. Planners, emergency managers, and policymakers use it for scenario planning, mitigation prioritization, and disaster response. Because its defaults are transparent and documented, HAZUS is both a working tool and a reference implementation of regional loss estimation.