This work will investigate use and understanding associated with the USGS Urban Hazard Map for Memphis/Shelby County Tennessee. Risk communication strategies for USGS products will then be developed with specific application within the Mid-America region of the ANSS, where risk communication can be complicated by residents’ perception of risk. Determining how scientific information and its associated uncertainty is used by multiple audiences to make decisions in response to the earthquake threat can be complex and motivates this research. As products such as ShakeMap and Urban Hazards Maps reach a growing internet audience, the interpretation of risk information is conducted by individuals with decreasing support from or interaction with information creators and disseminators. Therefore, data and information must be presented in a way to enable immediate and proper interpretation and use. Additionally, understanding how information is being accessed and interpreted is an increasingly important part of product dissemination and evaluation.

Risk communication is a well-developed area of research within the hazards community and we will avail ourselves of this body of knowledge and tools to methodically research and determine strategies that will most effectively bring added value to USGS Urban Hazards Maps. Surveys of individual perception, cognition, and interpretation of Urban Hazard Maps as well as surveys of the media professionals and public information officers will be used to document and describe the ways in which residents and media understand and use Urban Hazards Maps. Data collected for these target audiences will inform recommendations for supplementary communication strategies as necessary.