Campus response was quick the day the earth shook

Editor’s Note: Bob Roseth, director of the Office of News and Information, University Week’s parent organization, is a member of the Emergency Operations Team. This is his first-person account of the response to last week’s earthquake.

By all accounts, it could have been worse.

Books litter the floor in the law library after last week’s earthquake. Libraries were among the hardest hit buildings.

Although bigger than any temblor since 1949, this was far from the vaunted “big one.” The fault at which the quake occurred, fortunately, was more than 30 miles below the surface of the earth. Still, more than 300 people injured and perhaps $2 billion in damage statewide is impressive and sobering.

Almost immediately after the quake, members of the UW’s Emergency Operations team - from units including Facilities Services, Environmental Health and Safety, Student Affairs, Health Sciences, Communications Technologies, Computing & Communications, University Police and University Relations - began gathering.

Phones and computers were set up at stations around the room, and soon the calls began coming in. Each report of a problem on the Seattle campus, whether it was a crack in a wall or a suspicious smell, was recorded on a board at the front of the room. Within an hour, that board became filled and another board on the opposite side of the room was called into service. A television droned in the background.

A reporter and photographer from the Daily had found their way to the Bryant Building. They were given a quick tour of facility, an update on the current status of vital services, and urged to call back for any updates.

Immediately after the quake, University Police began quick, drive-by assessments to see if there was any obvious damage to major structures. This was followed by a slower, more in-depth assessment by Facilities Services personnel. Their work was shaped by a steady stream of reports from administrators and building coordinators regarding problems in their buildings.

As the picture sharpened, it was clear that campus structures had escaped serious damage. The Emergency Operations team will be conducting a review of how well the instructions in their “big red book,” the UW Emergency Plan, worked in its most rigorous test. Already, it is clear that improvements need to be made in a variety of areas.

Facilities Services is following up every report of possible damage, to determine what work should be done and what will happen first. Generally, the highest priority will be building systems such as mechanical rooms, electrical and heating systems. A total estimate of damage to facilities and infrastructure should be available in a month. But critical work is proceeding now.

While campus structures escaped serious damage, situations within some buildings did require temporary closures. For some individuals, the disruption has been major, and for some employees the effects of the Nisqually quake will be felt for many months.

One of the most affected areas on campus was University Libraries. Although the structures are intact, thousands of books were tossed and many stacks were damaged. Engineering and Fisheries-Oceanography Libraries were most severely affected. Thousands of individual volumes were damaged. Photos of the damage are at the Information Gateway, www.lib.washington.edu, and at www.lib.washington.edu/physics.quake.html. An in-depth description of the damage to the Libraries is at: http://www.washington.edu/newsroom/news/2001archive/03-01archive/k030501.html.

If you have questions about the building within which you work, talk to your building coordinator to see if an assessment has occurred. If there are ongoing concerns about your building, call Facilities Services, 685-1411.

Hello? This is your wake-up call

The missing link in all of the information from the earthquake is what happened in individual units and to individual members of the campus community.