Damage assessment using high resolution satellite imagery: application to 2001 Bhuj, India, earthquake

Published through RiskWorld.com (Nov 2001).

Various studies were carried out in the last years with the purpose of assessing natural hazard damages using remote sensing and photo interpretation techniques. Most of them analyze the case of floods or landslides, where damages could be estimated. For the seismic events, the first studies were carried out basically after the Kocaeli Earthquake of 1999, were spatial images from various satellites could be exploited. The recent progresses of remote sensing in terms of spatial resolution and data processing open new possibilities concerning the natural hazard assessment. Using a high resolution optical imagery available today, a damage detection could be performed inclusively in urban areas. A multidisciplinary approach based on high resolution satellite data and earthquake engineering was applied in order to estimate the damage after the Bhuj, (India), Earthquake of January 26th, 2001. The study provide a fast loss estimation, in terms of physical damage and human casualties. A Geographic Information System has been used in order to display the spatial distribution of damages. The results could be very useful for the rescue teams deployed immediately after the catastrophe.