Appendix J: GeoDatabase based Shake Maps 

J.1 Introduction 
J.1.1 Purpose 
The goal of the document is to show how the USGS Shake Maps (based on shp 
files) could be converted into GeoDatabase based Shake Maps. 

J.1.2 Scope 
This document describes how SHP file based Shake Maps could be converted into 
GeoDatabase based Shake Maps in a step by step way. The focus is entirely on 
what is important to make the new GeoDatabases work with Hazus-MH. This 
document should not be used as a resource for converting SHP files to 
GeoDatabases. 

J.2 Prerequisites 
ArcGIS 9.3 or later (ArcMap and ArcCatalog) should be installed on the 
computer. 

J.3 Creating GeoDatabase based Shake Maps 
1) Launch ArcCatalog from the Start menu. 

2) Click on the folder where the new Geogatabase is to be created. In case the folder is 
not available in ArcCatalog click on File>Connect Folder menu and select the folder 
where the Geodatabase is to be created. Once OK button is pressed on that dialog the 
folder will be visible in ArcCatalog. 


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3) Select the folder in TOC in ArcCatalog where the geodatabase is to be created (the one 
added in the above step), Click on File>New>Personal Geodatabase menu to create the 
new personal geodatabase. By default the name appears as “New Personal Geodatabse” 

Change the name using F2 key to what you want for example “CaDataMaps” 


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4) Select the folder where the shake maps are located in ArcCatalog’s TOC. If the folder 
is not available in the TOC click on File>Connect Folder menu and select the folder 
where the shake maps are located, press the OK button and the folder will be visible in 
ArcCatalog’s TOC. 

5) Select the Shape file which is to be exported under the connected folder in TOC as 
shown below: 


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6) Right click and select first option under Export To geodatabase (single)… as shown 


7) The Export option will show the following dialog 


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8) Click on the browse button for the Output Location and select the geodatabase 
created in step 3. 


Give the output feature class a name. In our example, since we are importing PGA data, 
we gave the feature class the name pga 


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9) The Field Map (optional) listbox shows the fields in the input file. Minimal shake 
maps input requirements in Hazus-MH are the spatial object and the value associated 
with it. Other fields can be kept in the input file but are not required. 

As shown below, Hazus-MH always expects the value field to be named ParamValue. 

Type of Map Correct Field Name Field Type Valid Values 
All user defined ParamValue Decimal Values must be 
Scenario Maps (Shake Greater than 0 
Maps) 

So in our example the VALUE_ field is the field that has the pga value, and it needs to be 
renamed. 

10) Right-click the field VALUE_, and select Properties. 


Edit the entries as follows: 

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11) Now Click OK. 


12) Click the Environments… button. 

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13) Select General Settings and click the browse button for the Output Coordinate 
System 

14) Navigate to the <HAZUS-MH>\DATA folder and select “USGS.MDB” and then 
select USGS feature class. 

NOTE: <HAZUS-MH> represents the folder where Hazus-MH is installed (by default, it 
is c:\Program Files\HAZUS-MH). 


15) Click Add. The Environment Settings dialog should look like the following: 

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Click OK. 

16) Click OK again. The conversion process starts showing a progress bar, and when 
done, the following dialog is shown. 

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, 
17) Click Close. The conversion process is complete. Now the CADatamaps.mdb data 
can be used in Hazus-MH as a user-defined hazard. 

Appendix J: Geodatabase based Shake Maps