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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword… or how we got from there to here!
Executive summary
Office space
Retail space
Warehouse, factory, garage space/ loading docks
Employees
Evacuation issues
Computers / Networks / Servers
Communications
Recovery
Miscellaneous
Positive aspects
Lessons learned from the SBA (U. S. Small Business Administration)
Appendix A Sources of additional information
Appendix B Earthquake preparedness tip sheet

Foreword… or how we got from there to here!

The magnitude 6.8 Nisqually Earthquake struck western Washington on Wednesday morning, February 28, 2001 at 10:58 AM. The quake was centered beneath Puget Sound off the Nisqually Delta, thirty-five miles beneath the earth's surface. The point of origin (aka. epicenter) of the earthquake, was located about 39 (11) miles NE of the State Capitol in Olympia, 37 (16) miles SW of downtown Tacoma, and 51 (40) miles SSW of downtown Seattle. The distances in italics are to the surface above the point of origin.

More than 400 were injured, but there was only one fatality, from a heart attack. The damage caused by the quake is estimated at more than $3.5 billion, yet only some $350 million of the loss was insured.

Businesses interviewed for this document ranged from one person businesses to large national companies, from SW Washington to British Columbia. Between 250 and 300 businesses were invited to participate. To encourage participation, no questionnaires were presented and interviews were short. Most were done via email, with some visits and a few by telephone. All were promised confidentiality, and told their responses would be used to help their fellow businessmen. They were asked "tell me about your experiences, e.g., what worked, what didn't work, what broke or fell over, what surprised you, etc. I'll be especially interested in stories/anecdotes about the quake that you'd like others to hear." Their responses have been organized into categories that seemed to make sense.

This document discusses the "lessons they learned" from the quake. It is not an in depth dissertation on the behavior of different types of quakes or buildings, but a practical look at what worked and what didn't. It is designed to help businesses decide where to spend their resources to protect their business from the next quake. Most of the recommendations contained are what those businesses have decided to do to protect against the next event. If each business in "earthquake country"* would do just one or two of the recommendations contained within, their future earthquake damages would be reduced, their employee safety improved, and the likelihood that their business will survive enhanced.

The Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the University Of Washington's Geophysics department wish to thank the many businesses and employees who shared their experiences to help protect us all.

* If you've read this far, you ARE in "earthquake country".

Executive summary

• SEISMIC RESTRAINTS PAID OFF: Inexpensive earthquake straps and quake mats saved a lot of equipment and downtime. Seismic retrofits were proven in several companies. Those who had retrofitted (or built to seismic specifications) couldn't stop talking about how well it paid off.
• CEILING GRIDS AND LIGHT FIXTURES: Many suspended ceilings and light fixtures that weren't seismically restrained dropped, endangering people and sprinkler systems.
• SHELVING SECURING & BRACING: Freestanding shelving should be secured to the wall and/or floor. Tall shelving, like in warehouses and warehouse clubs, should be secured to the floor, and from the top, and/or be diagonally braced.
• DON'T GET RED TAGGED NEEDLESSLY! Simple nonstructural hazards could red tag a building, even if no significant structural damage occurred.
• DISASTER/CONTINGENCY PLANS: Simple is better! A hospital supervisor said it best…"Our disaster script needs to be rewritten with the highlights on ONE page at the beginning of the plan - we missed the highlights and got lost in the huge volume of words in the plan!"
• EARTHQUAKE TRAINING: Trained employees immediately dropped under desks or tables and hung on ("Drop, Cover & Hold"). They emerged uninjured and ready to help after the quaking stopped.
• EMERGENCY DRILLS: Whether fire drills, evacuation drills or disaster testing... practice, practice, practice: When a disaster hits, many people go into "shock," so knowing where to go/what to do has to be automatic. Heard from companies many times… "you can not practice too often!" To be effective, drills must be a mandate of management... and management must participate.
• EXPECTATIONS: Fright and panic are reduced when employees know what to expect. Document what you learned during this quake to advise future employees of things like: how long to expect your building to sway after the shaking stops, what they might expect to hear (creaks, rumbles), how elevators might behave, what it might be like getting home, etc.
• TELEPHONE SYSTEM QUICKLY BECAME OVERLOADED: We need to save this resource for emergency calls only for the first 90 minutes after any major event. This means:
  a) don't use the phone unless you have an emergency,
  b) don't call 911 to ask "was that an earthquake we just had?", and
  c) hang up any phones that may have shaken off the hook.
• FAMILY NOTIFICATION: Your employees need to let their families know they are OK… but ask them to wait 90 minutes before calling (to accommodate emergency calls). Encourage them to arrange an out-of-state contact for family to call to say they're OK.
• PLACEMENT OF BUSINESS CONTINUITY RESPONSIBILITY: Some businesses shared that they've moved their Business Continuity function to report very high up in the management chain. This is where it belongs, because it needs senior management clout, and it supports the survival of the entire business. Any Contingency Planner or Business Continuity professional who reports several management layers down will confirm their efforts to be "futile". Their existence may satisfy a regulation of having a contingency plan, but it's unlikely the plan will be understood, tested or effective.

Office space

Retail Space

Warehouse, factory, garage space/ loading docks

• EARTHQUAKE TRAINING: Trained employees immediately dropped under desks or tables and hung on ("Drop, Cover & Hold"). They emerged uninjured and ready to help after the quaking stopped. Conversely, some answered that employee actions were frantic and varied. Some scrambled out of buildings, right into the path of falling glass and bricks. Many companies reported employees standing in doorways.
  Safest: under a sturdy desk, table or workbench!
  Next best: alongside an interior wall (when a ceiling collapses, it generally hangs onto the top of the wall and hits the floor in the center, forming a "tent" next to the wall).
  Don't run for doorways. Doors will swing back and forth, hitting occupants and smashing fingers. People were injured while running for doorways. Others reported being shoved out of doorways by people who felt they had more right to be there!
  
• BEWARE OF "FLYING DRAWERS": A Seattle business in a downtown high-rise said some employees suffered minor injuries while diving under their desks, as their center desk drawers slammed open and shut with amazing force! One advised "the center drawer of desks has the power to knock you out - don't stick your head up from under a desk until you're sure the shaking has stopped."
  
• EMERGENCY DRILLS: Whether fire drills, evacuation drills or disaster testing... practice, practice, practice: Heard from companies many times… "you can not practice too often!" To be effective, drills must be a mandate of management... and management must participate. Their effectiveness is seriously diminished if the manager closes his door and "hides out" during drills.
  
• EXPECTATIONS: Fright and panic are reduced when employees know what to expect. Document what you learned during this quake to advise future employees of things like:
  a) how long to expect your building to sway after the shaking stops,
  b) what they might expect to hear (creaks, rumbles),
  c) how elevators might behave,
  d) that it might take as much as 72 hours before help may get to you,
  e) what it might be like getting home, etc.
  A high-rise business occupant said the seismic motion and building sway caused many elevators to swing and repeatedly hit the sides of the elevator shafts. As designed, the elevator cars slowed down and slowly descended to a lower floor before opening, but the occupants were very frightened. Getting home may be tough. Landslides will block roads, bridges and overpasses may be damaged (or closed for inspection), and walking home may be the best method. Emergency kits with nutrition bars, medications, emergency water pouches, sturdy shoes and gloves will be very welcome!
• EMPLOYEE LOYALTY: Repeatedly I heard employees expressing thanks that their employer had provided earthquake awareness training. Another company, whose senior management walked through each area after the quake, said employees were very impressed that management personally checked on their well-being.
  
• EMERGENCY KITS: These kits include at least three days of any required medications, sturdy shoes and work gloves, and food and water to survive 72 hours. One company, whose employees each had emergency kits, observed many of their people going through their kits immediately after the quake. Commonly used items were heavy shoes, work gloves, and a few dust masks. Had the quake been stronger, the emergency water, protein bars, flashlights and medications would have been tapped. Another company whose employees had, at one time, mostly all had emergency kits under their desk, found that turnover had reduced the number of employees ready to "survive 72 hours without help". They took an action item to make emergency kits part of the new employee checklist.
  
• FAMILY NOTIFICATION: Your employees need to let their families know they are OK… but ask them to wait 90 minutes before calling (to accommodate emergency calls). Encourage your employees to have an out-of-state contact that everyone can call to say they're OK. Out-of-state is important, because in-state calls may be blocked. One major long distance carrier blocked 7.9 million calls so that state and local emergency workers could conduct the business of emergency management. Puget Sound Energy recommended in ENERGYwise, May 2001: "Select one out-of-state and one local friend or relative for family members to call if separated by disaster."
  
• HOME & FAMILY PREPAREDNESS: Your employees will be much less worried if their family, and pets at home are prepared. Home preparations for disasters, like seismic restraints, emergency water supplies, clear exit pathways, a predetermined gathering place, first aid kits and training, all add to safety and comfort. Caution… if you encourage this you may be viewed as a caring employer, a good company to work for, and… your employees will stick around longer to help with your recovery.
  One hospital decided "We need to revisit our family arrangements. A few years ago we focused on having our family plans set up so we could be free to concentrate on the hospital; we need to do this again!."
  
• DON'T PUT YOURSELF INTO HARMS WAY! We witnessed objects falling (bricks, facades, shingles, etc.) for several days after this quake. Not from aftershocks -- they just finally let go! I received several observations of people standing outside buildings, looking up, smoking, using cell phones… all the while in harms way!

• RAISED FLOORING: Raised flooring support pedestals that aren't set up for "earthquake country" can tip over or buckle, letting the floor collapse and dumping expensive computer and network hardware. Have yours been seismically braced?
  
• SERVER CABINETS: These should be restrained to the wall or floor to keep them from walking. Many server cabinets tipped over… a few servers survived, many others were destroyed. One company reported a notebook shook off a cabinet, then the cabinet walked up onto the notebook and tilted over!
  
• SERVER RACKS: There are seismically designed server racks that are made to allow the servers to "roll with a quake". Something to consider when you are adding or replacing server racks.
  
• MONITORS & TERMINALS: These should be strapped or otherwise restrained to keep them in place. Many companies lost monitors and computer terminal screens during the shaking. Many monitors that weren't strapped down were thrown off the desk. Some survived, but many didn't. A few employees were hit by "flying" monitors, and a lot of productivity was lost while waiting for replacements. Those companies who had spent a very few dollars per monitor got a very good return on their investment.

Communications

• TELEPHONE SYSTEM QUICKLY BECAME OVERLOADED: Many phone calls made were unnecessary. AT&T alone blocked 7.9 million incoming calls for 17 hours. We need to save this resource for emergency calls only for the first 90 minutes after any major event. This means:
  a) don't use the phone unless you have an emergency,
  b) don't call 911 to ask "was that an earthquake we just had?", and
  c) hang up any phones that may have shaken off the hook.
  The woman who died of a heart attack was my neighbor. Her husband succeeded in getting a dial tone, but the 911 system was jammed, and much of its load was due to b) above. While the husband applied CPR, a neighbor drove to the fire station and got the medics, but too much time had passed.
  
• CELLULAR PHONE SYSTEM WAS ALSO JAMMED: The cellular system suffered the same problems, and for the same reasons, as the wired system.
• NEXTEL PHONES WORKED WELL within 15-20 minutes after the quake. One company is considering Nextel as their new standard.
  
• TWO WAY PAGING SYSTEMS WORKED WELL, and don't require a dial tone to answer or acknowledge. A large Tacoma business reported that their ARCH two way text pagers were their only portable communications devices working.
  
• REGULAR PAGING SYSTEMS WERE INTERMITTENT: Digital paging systems require a phone call to initiate, transmission air time to send the signal, then often require the recipient to make a call, so while the phone system was overloaded they didn't all get through. Alpha pages have the advantage of passing along a useful message using minimal airtime, such as to meet somewhere, or similar. Blast pages (a single computer generated message is sent to a group of pagers) generally got through, but usually not everyone got the page, and some pages were significantly delayed. One company reported that Out-Of-State pages took 20 minutes to more than an hour to be received in the NW, and have since cautioned their people Do Not Send Repeated Pages!
  
• EMERGENCY RADIOS: One very well prepared company reported they were unable to communicate via radio to their home office communications center and other downtown offices. Several other companies mentioned similar difficulties with radios, especially with newer employees. Remedy: more frequent usage training and radio testing! A hospital said their 800mhz radios were temporarily useless due to lack of air space, and said they were going to look at another frequency, or alternative radios.
  
• ALTERNATE PROVIDER FOR 1-800 AND FAX SERVICE: A business that relies on an 800 number to receive orders can suffer a severe loss of business when their service is out for any length of time. A Spokane company experienced 2-1/2 days downtime because their provider was down. They have since arranged for alternate emergency providers, and have split their daily traffic to protect their business. You should also find out where your provider's central office is located. If your provider's facility is in your locality, you should consider at least splitting the traffic.
  
• EMAIL AND WEB BASED STATUS COMMUNICATION: Several businesses and agencies found this to be an effective means of communicating status of things like availability of hospital beds, status of utilities, and lots more. While it's hard to disagree with the usefulness of something that proved to work, you need to recognize that this means of communication could be severed in a stronger quake than this one… so don't make this your only means of conducting your recovery.
  
• SATELLITE PHONES: An expensive solution, but if immediate communication is a must, these can provide it. Frequent training and testing is critical though, otherwise your investment could be useless. One company reported exactly such a problem… they couldn't figure out how to make theirs work!
  

• DISASTER/CONTINGENCY PLANS: Simple is better! A hospital supervisor said it best… "Our disaster script needs to be rewritten with the highlights on ONE page at the beginning of the plan - we missed the highlights and got lost in the huge volume of words in the plan!"
  
• COMMUNICATIONS PLANS LACKING! Several companies admitted their employee call lists and vendor contact lists were out of date. This caused a lot of delays in recovery.
  
• PLANS SHOULD BE KNOWN TO EMPLOYEES, and accessible when the manager is away. A utility company reported "Our unit should have remained at work ready to respond to emergencies, but without a written plan or a manager on site, this did not happen.
  
• EMPLOYEE HOT LINES (aka. SNOW LINES, EMERGENCY LINES, etc.): Many companies have these systems for dispensing emergency information to employees, and they generally work very well. But… to be effective, the hardware must not be located on your company's premises. Best is to have it located out of your area, like in a phone company central office across the mountains. One company reported their hotline out of commission because it was in their disabled site. This really crippled their ability to communicate information to their employees in a timely fashion. Another company stated they have since established a remote 800 number to communicate with their staff.
  
• TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR RECOVERY STAFF: Many companies prearrange, or at least predetermine, travel arrangements for staff to get to hotsites or other company sites. One large company found those arrangements to be much less clear than expected. They have since rewritten them to be clearly understandable in an emergency. Alternate arrangements should also be considered, in case the airport is shut down or a bridge closed.
  
• RECOVERY MEDIA MANAGEMENT: One business admitted discovering problems locating all their backup data. Several others nodded in acknowledgment! They found knowing what is on which backup tape was not easy!
  
• WORK SHIFTS: Early in the recovery you should send part of your recovery staff away to get some rest. Some companies were fortunate enough to learn this during disaster testing, and planned their "real recovery" accordingly. One company who successfully recovered, but much later than they planned, lamented "Shifts were long and sleep was short. This led to bad mistakes and major set backs in system restore."
  
• CANCEL UNNECESSARY FUNCTIONS DURING YOUR RECOVERY: One hospital modified their disaster plan to automatically cancel non-emergency surgical cases during a disaster because the patients want to go home, and the operating rooms might be needed for people injured during the quake.
  
• CHILD CARE FOR RECOVERY STAFF can make the difference between having the staff you need, and being understaffed. One company said "we needed to set up a baby sitting area for staff who had to bring children in… we are refining our plan to include who should be the sitters."

Miscellaneous

• EARTHQUAKE INSURANCE: Few of the companies responding had earthquake insurance. Some had declined earthquake coverage due to premium cost. Others didn't realize they didn't have it. Many reported taking another look at their insurance program.
  
• TRANSPORTATION PLAN: Businesses whose revenue stream depends upon getting vehicles, packages and/or employees to/from their location are advised to devise an alternate plan(s). These plans should include alternate routes and airports, if appropriate to your business. Companies who had this planned out were able to "hit the ground running," and suffered less than those who had not planned. The financial community was severely disrupted by the closure of Boeing Field, as many couriers that move checks fly out of this convenient field.
  
• DEPENDENCIES: Consider what your business is dependent upon. If your survival depends upon daily flights from Boeing field, a ferry between Fauntleroy and Vashon, a bridge, whatever… what are your plans if these facilities are not available for a day, a week, or a year.
  
• CENTRALIZE vs. DECENTRALIZE: An earthquake (or other disaster) tips the scales in favor of decentralizing (as an effective disaster backup). Companies that were able to switch production to an unaffected facility may have been tight on capacity, but they kept on running. One of those companies reported capturing a chunk more market share in the area, when their main competition was unable to deliver. Another large local company switched their call center traffic to another call center, and their customers never felt them miss a beat!
  
• POST RECOVERY RETURN HOME: A well thought out return process should be part of your recovery plan. You have the opportunity to create another disaster if your return home is not carefully scripted. This is embarrassing (at least) if you've successfully recovered off site, and then fall on your face when making the move to your home site.
  
• STRUCTURAL REVIEW OF OLDER BUILDINGS ADVISED: Buildings designed and built over twenty years ago need to be reviewed. Recent earthquakes suggest that building damage in minor earthquakes is related to lack of upkeep and maintenance practices, in addition to possible inadequate lateral structural systems. Older buildings should be reviewed using ATC-21 or other FEMA Hazard reduction program documents. Volunteer building reviews may be available for businesses that cannot afford to hire consultants for such activities. Contact Behrooz (Ben) Emam at (206)783-1909, or emam@amazon.com.
  
• NEWER BUILDING STRUCTURE PROBABLY O.K: The experience in recent earthquakes suggests buildings less than twenty years of age perform well in seismic events, and damage in these buildings tends to be minor, and related to non-structural components (piping, equipment, furnishings, etc.). Attaching this equipment to building structural systems reduces the likelihood of damage and post earthquake business interruption.

Positive Aspects

• Many more now understand that DROP, COVER & HOLD drills are useful exercises.
  
• Many businesses have strengthened their emergency procedures to help save lives and prevent injuries, and to help them maintain a competent image during a future event.
  
• Some businesses shared that they've moved their Business Continuity function to report very high up in the management chain. This is where it belongs, because it needs senior management clout, and it supports the survival of the entire business. Any Contingency Planner or Business Continuity professional who reports several management layers down will confirm their efforts to be "futile". Their existence may satisfy a regulation of having a contingency plan, but it's unlikely the plan will be understood, tested or effective
  
• Seismic retrofits were proven in several companies. Even though I heard some reports of strapping and bracing failures, those who had retrofitted (or built to seismic specifications) couldn't stop talking about how well it paid off.
  
• Masonry and drywall contractors have enjoyed a major surge in business!

Lessons learned from the SBA (U. S. Small Business Administration)

By October 22, 2001, the SBA had approved $81.3 million in low interest disaster loans to 6,181 homeowners, renters, and businesses that sustained damage from the Nisqually earthquake. This includes 615 disaster loans to businesses totaling $26.1 million for repairs, and 121 loans to businesses totaling $2.3 million for economic injury assistance. To date, SBA disaster loans have protected more than 3,996 jobs for businesses damaged by the Nisqually earthquake. Here are some lessons they learned from the businesses they assisted:

Appendix A Sources of Additional Information

GENERAL EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION:

EARTHQUAKE TIPS, DISASTER LOANS, DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT:

INSURANCE INFORMATION:

CHIMNEY and MASONRY INFORMATION:

EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS FOR ARTISTS and ARTWORK:

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESOURCES:

Earthquake preparedness combines common sense with a few actions based on simple physics.
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
# 1 - Address Human Safety
The primary concern should be the protection of life and limb. No matter how valuable objects may be, hazards to human safety must be addressed first.

Tripping Hazard:

Tripping is basically a complication of tipping, and occurs when an object slides across a surface until it encounters a point of resistance, and then trips over that obstruction. Tripping can also occur when an object has a high friction bottom that won't slide, and a center of gravity high enough to topple it. To avoid tripping of objects, follow the same steps for securing or lowering the center of gravity, as detailed in Tipping Hazards, above.

Collision Hazards:
Collision damage occurs when an object slides and strikes another object or surface without tipping over.

Falling Hazards:
Objects may be damaged by falling from a shelf, workbench, or display stand.
Pictures and art work may be damaged, or even destroyed, by falling off a wall.

To reduce falling hazards:
Limit the availability of edges by applying a lip to a surface, or stretching a light rope or bungee across the opening of a set of shelves to limit the ability of objects to fall off the shelves.

OTHER HAZARDS IN THE WORK PLACE
Hazardous Materials: