WEEK 5 CHALLENGE EARTHQUAKE RISK AND MITIGATION

Week 5 Challenge: Geoprocessing

Essentials Earthquake Risk and
Mitigation
Utah, a state in the western United States, is earthquake
country. The Wasatch fault which can cause up to a
magnitude 7.5 earthquake parallels the Wasatch front --
home to over 2.3 million people living in Ogden, Salt Lake
City, Provo and surrounding communities.

Government leaders have recognized the dangers and

retrofitted several buildings, including the state capitol Figure 1. Earthquake damage to an old brick building caused
by an Earthquake in Italy.
building, so they will withstand earthquake shaking.

President Nelson stated in April 2019 General Conference:

“The fault lines that run through the Wasatch Front suggest
that a deadly earthquake will one day strike the greater Salt
Lake area. When it does, [seismically retrofitting the Salt
Lake temple] could save a stunning jewel in the crown of
pioneer achievement and all those who work and serve
there.” (emphasis added)

In this Challenge, you will work with data sets used by city disaster managers, engineers, state
government, and geologists to help home and business owners and others living, working, and travelling
along the Wasatch front prepare for the inevitable.

You will consider several earthquake-related hazards: surface offset of up to 6 feet (2 m), shaking,
liquefaction, and collapse of old brick buildings. Surface offset is limited primarily to the faults. Shaking will
be felt throughout the area and will intensify in regions underlain by unconsolidated soils rather than solid
rock. Liquefaction occurs when water-saturated soil behaves as a liquid during earthquake shaking and
can severely damage buildings and infrastructure.

Social and political implications: Utah’s biggest earthquake hazard are ‘old brick’ buildings (also known as
URMs or ‘unreinforced masonry’) that are highly susceptible to damage and structural failure during
earthquake shaking (Figure 1). Built before earthquake building codes, ‘old brick’ buildings are earthquake
death traps. During a large earthquake, shaking severe enough to cause them to collapse can occur
anywhere along the Wasatch front. Utah has over 200,000 URMs while California has less than 30,000. To
learn more check out: https://utahearthquakesafety.org/.

Your data for this project include faults, a simple geologic map that can be used to separate soil from
bedrock, a map of liquefaction potential, and several categories of buildings – buildings on the register of
historic places, temples, fire stations, schools, and healthcare facilities. Some of these are GIS ready –
others are excel or *.csv files that will need to be prepped for use in GIS.

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Goals:
 Determine which essential vector geoprocessing tool is best for a given task.
 Practice applying the essential vector geoprocessing tools.
 Complete location and attribute queries. (If you need help: Querying Data Using ArcGIS Pro)
 Practice creating a feature class from a selection.
 Build a geoprocessing model.

Assignment:
This week’s Challenge consists of several Mini Challenges to help you explore and apply geoprocessing
tools and queries. Each Mini Challenge requires you to choose and use an essential geoprocessing tool.
Your Technical Report will be organized in a table. No layouts needed. Just take ‘snips’ of your maps
and/or attribute tables.

What to turn in:

1) A project package that contains your geodatabase and a map for each mini challenge. No layouts.
2) Technical Report organized by Mini Challenge with a table for each that records the data, the tool,
and the results. In addition, your report should include the Challenge name and week, your name,
the date, a snip of your model, answers to each mini challenge, and a short summary of what you
learned about choosing and applying the essential vector geoprocessing tools.

Challeng Data and Tool, why you chose it, parameters Results (mini snip of maps and/or
e pertinent you set, and any insights. attribute tables)
attributes

Challenge table:

When I first saw that this Challenge had 13 mini challenges, I was scared that it would take me a long time
to complete. But I quickly learned that most of them only use one tool and one data set. Using my table
and model, I completed most of them in about 10 minutes. And when I got stuck the hints really helped.
This ended up being one of my favorite Challenges! The end of this document shows how I
set up my Technical Report.

Getting Started:
1. Use your table of Essential Geoprocessing Tools from your Professional Training Memo
to help you complete the Mini Challenges. Also use information from the Readings and
ESRI Help.
2. Create a Week5 folder on your computer and download the data from this link: (Wk5_ChallengeData)
into it. (Don’t put spaces in the name of your folder.)
3. Start a new ArcGIS Pro project and save it to your Week5 folder.
o In the Catalog Pane, review the data (You may first need to connect to your Week5 folder.)
- Historic_Buildings: A feature data set that contains several feature classes of buildings on
the historic building registry in the United States.
- FireStations: Fire stations in Utah
- LiquefactionPotential: Ranks the likelihood of liquefaction occurring along the Wasatch
Front.

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- Schools_UT: all schools in Utah

- US_and_StateRoutes_UT: US and State roads in Utah.
- UT_counties: A feature class of all counties in Utah
- UT_Qfaults: A feature class of all active, potential earthquake-generating faults in Utah
(The Q means Quaternary which is the youngest geologic time period.)
- WasatchGeol: A feature class of a geologic map along the Wasatch front. In the attribute
table, SRU is an acronym for Surface Units. It indicates the geologic age of the rock or soil
exposed at the Earth’s surface.
- Water: Major lakes along the Wasatch front

4. OPTIONAL: Create a new model using ModelBuilder. Put these tools in it: buffer, clip, dissolve, erase,
intersect, summarize within, merge. Include the model in your Technical Report.

One way I use ModelBuilder is to explore and answer questions about my

data. I put the tools I think I will need into a model where I can access them
quickly. Then I add and remove data as needed. I also take lots of notes!

Did you know … there are quick helps when working

with geoprocessing tools! If I’m not sure what goes in an
input box, I hover my mouse over the * to see an
explanation. I also click the question mark to learn what
the tool does and see links to more help.

Mini Challenges
The Mini Challenges may stretch your understanding and make you think. Each one
uses one or more Essential Geoprocessing Tool. Use what you have learned this week and your personal
Tools Table from your Professional Training Memo. Discuss strategies with others.

These Mini Challenges are a bit like being at work – I’m often given a
task that I need to complete and I’m not sure what to do. Here’s a
workflow I use to help me get started and then figure out my next
steps. Maybe it will help you too.

Ken’s Pro Workflow:

1. Choose Data: “What data do I need?” “Do I need more than one data set?”
2. Study Attribute Table: “How many records are there?” “What are the attribute fields?” “Are there
specific fields that might help me?”
3. Plan Geoprocessing and Make a Model: “Which tool(s) should I use? Why those tools? Do I need to do
a query?” Write a plan and build and run a model.

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4. Review Results: “Do the results make sense and answer the question? Did I choose the right tool and
set the parameters correctly?
5. Share Results: Here you should … take a screenshot of the map, model, and/or attribute table. Write a
brief figure caption that notes the data and the tool parameters set in the model. Then ask. “Can
someone duplicate the results using my model and parameters?”
6. Save your ArcGIS Pro Project frequently!

As I was doing the Mini Challenges I used Ken’s Pro Workflow and it helped me
organize my thoughts especially when I had no idea what to do! There were a couple of
things I learned earlier this semester that I had to remind myself of …

First, ‘Select by location’ and ‘Select by attribute’ create a subset of a layer and not a
new feature class. To get that, I “Right click the data in the catalog pane, select “Data”
then select “Export features” and fill out the geoprocessing steps.”

Second, sometimes I can’t find the output from the geoprocessing. If

that happens to you just remember … the output feature classes are saved to the
default geodatabase. If you don’t see them there, try right clicking and refreshing
the default geodatabase.

Third, turn off the input layers so you can see the results of an output!

Important: Insert a new map in your Week5 ArcGIS Pro Project for each Mini Challenge. Name
it for the Mini Challenge. This project will have 11 maps. Choose a basemap that best shows
your results or have no basemap. No layouts required!

Mini Challenge 1: Many counties require new buildings to be ‘setback’ from young, active faults so they
are less likely to be damaged by fault offset. Which counties in Utah have young active faults? Create a
feature class of them and symbolize them on a map differently from the other counties. With the tool, try
three different relationships to see which one works the best. Include a snip of your map in your Report.

Mini Challenge 2: Which fault has the longest length in miles? The lengths in the attribute table are
given in angular units. Calculate lengths in integer in miles. Include a snip of your attribute table in your
Report.

The Utah State Senate wants to see which counties in Utah have the greatest seismic risk. Mini-Challenges
3a and 3b work to answer this question. In ArcGIS Pro insert one map for Mini Challenge 3.

Mini Challenge 3a: One person suggests that you figure out which county in Utah has the greatest total
length of active faults. Use the tool that can summarize the lengths of the faults within each country.
Include a snip of your output attribute table in your Technical Report.

Mini Challenge 3b: Another person suggests that seismic risk must include population as well as the
lengths of faults in a county. They want you to calculate this risk parameter:
Risk Parameter = ‘County Population’ x ‘Total Length of Faults in the county in km’

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After you do the calculation, create a choropleth map that shows the risk parameter normalized by area.
Label county names and identify which counties have the greatest seismic risk based on this parameter.
Include a snip of the map in your Technical Report.
Mini Challenge 4: Students from five Utah counties have submitted locations of old brick buildings they
think should be evaluated for seismic safety. Combine the data into one feature class. How many buildings
are in the output feature class? Include a snip of your attribute table and map in your Technical Report.
(The data are in the “HistoricBuildings” feature data set.)

Mini Challenge 5: How many different young active faults are in Utah? How long is the longest fault in
miles? The attribute table lists 474 faults, but many of these are segments of the same fault. Use a tool to
help you aggregate the faults by their names then look at the attribute table to determine the answer.
When you run the tool, be sure to set the “Statistics Field” to calculate the ‘Sum’ of ‘Length_Miles.’ Include
a snip of your output attribute table in your Technical Report.

Mini Challenge 6: Many people living in Utah have heard about the Wasatch fault. The fault consists of
several segments. Why didn’t the tool you used in Mini-Challenge 5 aggregate the Wasatch fault? Select
the Wasatch fault segments by a shared attribute; then create a feature class called WasatchFault from
your selection. In your Technical Report include a snip of a map that shows only the Wasatch fault.

Mini Challenge 7: A Wasatch front homeowner knows about the Wasatch fault, but does not
understand shaking hazards or liquefaction or the presence of other faults. Based on a ‘faulty fear,’ they
want to live at least 1 mile from the Wasatch fault and have their children only attend schools that are at
least 5 miles from it. What do the 1 and 5 mile polygon features look like on a map? The tool you use has a
‘dissolve’ option; experiment with the options; what is the difference? Which do you like better? In your
Technical Report include a snip of a map showing the Wasatch fault and the 1 and 5 mile polygons.

Mini Challenge 8: Which schools lie within 5 miles of the Wasatch fault? How many are there? Make a
feature class of those schools and show them on your map along with the 5 mile polygon from Challenge
7. In your Technical Report include a snip of a map showing your results. [There are a few ways to create
the feature class; you can use one tool or more than one. See if you can do it with just one tool.]

Mini Challenge 9: Which schools lie more than 5 miles from the Wasatch fault? How many are there?
Make a feature class of those schools and show them on your map along with the 5 mile polygon from
Challenge 7. In your Technical Report include a snip of a map showing your results. [There are a few ways
to create the feature class; you can use one tool or more than one. See if you can do it with just one tool.]

The next two challenges use the LiquefactionPotential layer. Recall that liquification is the potential for the
ground to liquefy during shaking and is a significant hazard. In the attribute table, the Pcode field contains
ordinal data that ranks the shaking potential; lower numbers = good, higher numbers = bad.

Mini Challenge 10: You understand that liquefaction and “shakeability’ are at least as important to
consider as distance from a fault. You want to know, ‘What is the liquefaction potential (if known) at the
schools?’ Look at the school attribute table. Note that it does not have any attribute to help you know the

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liquefaction potential. Which tool will attach the LiquifactionPotential attributes to the school? In your
Technical Report include a map that symbolizes and classifies the schools by Pcode; use 3 classes.

Mini Challenge 11: Is there any correlation between liquefaction potential and type of geologic unit?
Since these layers are both polygons, there are two tools you can use to look at the correlation – the one
you used in Mini Challenge 10 and another one. Try both tools and compare the results both in the map
and in the attribute tables. Which is better at answering the question and at displaying the results? In your
Technical report compare the results of both tools; include snips of two maps (one for each tool) that
symbolizes the results by PCode (3 classes) and the number of records in each attribute table.

Mini Challenge 12 (Soil vs Rock): When budgeting a project, civil engineers need to know whether
they can dig in an area or must blast. In their view, ‘soil can be dug, rock must be blasted.’ Create a
simplified map that aggregates a geologic map of the Wasatch front into two units – soil and bedrock (i.e.,
unbroken solid rock). In your Technical Report show how the input layer differs from the output layer. Use
snips of the input and output maps and attribute tables to explain the results. ( Note that you will use the
output from this process in Mini Challenge 13, which is multi-step.)

Carlos is a geology major, so he’ll help you understand the WasatchGeol layer.

The WasatchGeol layer is a generalized geologic map of part of the Wasatch front.
Geologic maps show geologic features exposed on Earth’s surface including faults,
mineral deposits, and the ages and types of exposed rock and sediment. In the
WasatchGeol attribute table the SoilvsRock field indicates which units are soil and
which are bedrock. (The SRU are ‘surface units:’ Q units are unconsolidated
Quaternary sediments, where Q1 is the youngest and Q6 is the oldest. Units
labeled ‘M’ are Mesozoic bedrock; ‘P’ are Precambrian and Paleozoic bedrock
combined; and ‘T’ are Tertiary bedrock. Tertiary is an older name often used in
geologic maps; it is roughly equivalent to the Paleogene and Eogene.)

Challenge 13: Multi-step, Multi-tool – Historic Buildings

Several counties in Utah with high earthquake risk have many beautiful historic buildings that were built
long before earthquake building codes in Utah were enacted (1975). Many of them are ‘old brick
buildings’ that would likely collapse in an earthquake posing a serious risk to occupants and passersby.

A Non-Government Organization (NGO) is in the process of applying for federal funds to seismically
retrofit as many historic buildings as possible. For the five Wasatch front counties (Box Elder, Davis,
Weber, Salt Lake and Utah) determine the criteria you will use to determine which counties should receive
the most funding. Then use geoprocessing to apply the criteria. Create a map layout that shows your
geoprocessing steps and your results.

Here are some of the criteria I thought about: the number and percent of historic buildings
in each county; the number of historic buildings that lie in soil (vigorous shaking) rather
than bedrock (little shaking); c) the number of buildings that lie in liquefaction zones with

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a high PCode (these will liquefy); the number of historic buildings that lie in high liquefaction and soil in
each county.

Time to have a mini-celebration – you finished the challenges!

Submitting your work:

 Create a “Project Package” in ArcGIS Pro and save it to a file. Your Project should have 13 individual
maps, and an organized default geodatabase. To create the Project Package, open the “Share” tab in
ArcGIS Pro, and then click “New Project Package.” If you get this error message: “00246 Geoprocessing
history items with errors cannot be included in the package,” resolve it by right clicking on the three
dots to its right side. If this fails, save and exit your map, then open it and try again. If it fails a second
time, note this in Canvas and turn in your Technical Report with out it.
 Submit the package and your Technical Report in Canvas.

Example Content of Technical Report for the Week 5 Challenge:

Week 5 Challenge Essential Geoprocessing Tools
By Atelaite, June 20, 20xx
Snip of your overall model (optional):
Mini Challenge 1: This map shows the counties in Utah that have young active faults
Snip of map
Methods Table for Mini Challenge 1: (use screenshots for parameters if needed. The “Results” is your
map unless you use more than one tool.
Processing or Why I used this tool? Parameters and data Results
tool(s) used

Mini Challenge 2: The < fill in the blank> field in the attribute table below shows the lengths of the faults in
miles (or km). The ________ fault is the longest.
Snip of attribute table
Methods Table for Mini Challenge 2: (use screenshots for parameters if needed.
Processing or Why I used this tool? Parameters and data Results
tool(s) used

Similar for the all mini-challenges. For 13 you should have multiple rows; one for each tool you used.

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Summary for the entire Challenge: Choose one question to answer based on your major or interests: What
are the social or political implications of the challenges? What are the engineering or science implications
of the challenges? How might a career in fisheries and wildlife, poli sci, or ag use the tools learned here?

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