Earthquakes

Citation

(2001), "Earthquakes", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.07310eag.002

Earthquakes

Earthquakes

Earthquake Mapsgreenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/i-maps/i-2737/greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/fact-sheets/fs-0006-01/

More than 1,000 earthquakes have hit the north-east over the last 360 years – some of them causing significant damage. These events are documented in a new earthquake map and fact sheet entitled Earthquakes In and Near the Northeastern United States, 1638-1998 recently released by the US Geological Survey and the Northeast States Emergency Consortium. Both can be downloaded from the URLs above.

University of California-Santa Cruzhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/jsr/EART10/Trips/Fr3/index.html

This site, prepared by the Earth Sciences Department at the University of California-Santa Cruz, offers a virtual field trip of the Santa Cruz region following the 1989 Lorna Prieta earthquake. Intended for an introductory earth science class, it provides basic information about seismic phenomena as well as specific details about the October 17, 1989, event that was responsible for 62 deaths, 3,757 injuries, and over $6 billion in damage. Besides an overview, the self-guided field trip includes illustrated sections on tectonics, building damage, liquefaction, surface cracking, and landslides.

the EQNET sitehttp://www.eqnet.org

Of course there are a lot of sources and a lot of material available on the Internet concerning the February 28 western Washington state (Nisqually) earthquake. For a helpful index to much of that information, see the EQNET site, which provides indices regarding the recent El Salvador and India quakes as well.

Washington State Emergency Management Divisionhttp://www.wa.gov/wsem

The Washington State Emergency Management Division Web site offers an extensive section on the recent Washington earthquake. It includes official government (federal, state, and local) announcements, details about damage, and abundant information for residents about recovery and recovery resources.

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)http://www.eeri.org

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) has posted preliminary reports and photos from the EERI reconnaissance team that examined the Bhuj earthquake that devastated the state of Gujarat, India, on January 26. The site also offers observations and information about the recent Washington state quake and the two El Salvador events earlier this year.

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Servergeoinfo.usc.edu/gees/

Similarly, the Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Server – a service supported by the National Science Foundation – has published the Preliminary Report of the India-US Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Reconnaissance Team that examined the Bhuj, India, quake. The team was sponsored by NSF in collaboration with EERI (see above) and the Mid-America Earthquake Center.

National Information Center for Earthquake Engineering (NICEE)http://www.nicee.org/NICEE/Gujarat/iaeemanual.htm

In response to the catastrophic Indian earthquake, the National Information Center for Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, India, has made the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) manual Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered Construction available via the NICEE Web site. Non-engineered buildings are defined as those that are "spontaneously and informally constructed using traditional techniques without the aid of an architect or engineer but that may follow a set of recommendations derived from observed behaviour of such buildings in past earthquakes and trained engineering judgment". Questions or comments about these guidelines can be directed to NICEE via e-mail: nicee@iitk.ac.in

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)http://www.cepal.org.mx

At the request of the Government of the Republic of El Salvador, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has carried out a study of the socio-economic impact of the January 13 earthquake that struck that country. According to the study, the total losses were approximately US$1.3 billion. The full text of the study and a description of study methodology are available in Spanish, with an executive summary in English, from the ECLAC Web page at the address above. After a second earthquake struck El Salvador on February 13, a new evaluation mission was organized, and the results of the second evaluation will be available soon. For further information, contact Ricardo ZLlpata. ECLAC. e-mail: rzapata@un.org.mx

Organization of American States (OAS)http://www.oas.org/nhp/

Since the recent earthquakes, the Ministry of Education of El Salvador, with help from the Organization of American States (OAS), has created a technical committee to review the designs, blueprints, and specifications of all prototypes used in school construction. The Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment (USDE) of the OAS is supporting this update of the School Vulnerability Reduction Program in El Salvador, and information on the program in English and Spanish is available from the Web site above under "Education vulnerability reduction". OAS/USDE would appreciate receiving any additional information that observer readers might have about small buildings and school construction in earthquake-, volcano-, and flood-prone areas. Please e-mail details to natural-hazards-project@oas.org