Seattle is a beautiful place to live, work and play but it's not immune to major disasters. On the contrary, our region ranks number one in the country in terms of the number of hazards we face, which includes winter storms, landslides, flooding and earthquakes. The city of Seattle has identified 18 hazards that carry the greatest risk to the city. Out of this group the city considers earthquakes, winter storms, wind storms and terrorism to pose the highest risk due to their likelihood and potential consequences.
Learn about local hazards, how they impact Seattle communities, and how the city plans to respond. This information can be found in the Seattle Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment, also called SHIVA, which identifies the biggest threats to our region, so we know what to plan and prepare for, educate the public about, and mitigate against.
The SHIVA is intended for anyone wishing to better understand how hazards impact the Seattle community. Those wishing for an 'At A Glance' ranking of hazard threat can turn to the Hazard Ranking table on page 25. Others can use it as a reference and summary of current research. We welcome comments and suggestions. Please send them to T.J. McDonald at email@example.com.
Interested in learning how you can reduce your vulnerability to climate change related impacts? Check out the the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, a product of NOAA, NASA, USGS, NSC and others.