Is Stanford ready for the next big earthquake?
Larry Gibbs, associate vice provost for EH&S
BY ELAINE RAY
As Bay Area residents look back on the Loma Prieta earthquake, Stanford Report asked university emergency officials how things have changed since the magnitude 6.9 temblor rocked the campus in 1989. Larry Gibbs, associate vice provost for Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S), and Keith Perry, emergency manager in EH&S, offered their expertise on how the campus community can prepare for the next Big One.
Q. What lessons have we learned in the past 20 years?
A. Stanford has moved forward in a number of critical areas. The major lessons learned include the need to be better prepared for any type of emergency that may impact the university, from an earthquake to power outages to pandemics. Emergency planning needs to be an integrated aspect of the business operations of every academic and administrative unit.
Another component of effective emergency management is communication. Stanford has made significant improvements in its ability to communicate to staff, faculty and students through the implementation of the AlertSU mass-notification system and the outdoor warning system, both of which were tested on Thursday.
Q. How are our preparations different from what they were 20 years ago?
A. Stanford has made significant investment in the protection of the critical infrastructure of the campus, from completion of seismic retrofitting of many buildings to the development of backup and redundancy systems for our extensive electronic administrative systems and records.
Keith Perry, emergency manager in EH&S
In the area of emergency planning and response, Stanford has developed an emergency management system in which all units of the university participate. During a campus-wide emergency we can activate a central emergency operations center that is led by the president and provost and staffed by the senior university management. In addition, 25 satellite operations centers, which include all the schools and operational units of the university, can be activated. Our all-hazards campus-response capabilities focus on preparing for a major earthquake and at the same time allow us to manage other types of emergencies.
Emergency management is an element of every school and unit at the university. With a focus on personal preparedness combined with an organizational effort, we must be able to respond to the overall needs of the institution. The guiding principles used in development of the overall emergency management program include protection of life safety, securing of the critical infrastructure and facilities, and resuming the teaching and research programs.
Stanford also recently received a significant grant from the Department of Education to further develop programs, strategies and templates for use by other colleges and universities in developing their own emergency plans. This program demonstrates that there is a growing understanding of the challenges and significant efforts required to implement an effective emergency management program on a university campus.
Q. How do earthquake preparations figure into the construction of new buildings?
A. Building codes have changed substantially since 1989, and facilities built since then are constructed with seismic structural considerations as one of the core requirements. Many Stanford buildings are constructed to standards above and beyond basic code compliance. Additionally, Stanford has made significant investment in the protection of the critical infrastructure of the campus, from completion of seismic retrofitting of many buildings to the development of backup and redundancy systems for our extensive electronic administrative systems and records.
Q. How should individual faculty, staff and students prepare for the possibility of an earthquake?
A. One of the main tenets of emergency management is to be personally prepared for an earthquake. Every person should have a personal plan for themselves and their families. Know what to do if you feel the shaking begin, and understand the basic survival needs for having to be on your own without power and other amenities for up to 72 hours. Work out a communications plan with family and friends. If you need assistance developing a plan, Environmental Health and Safety offers a monthly class on personal preparedness. It is open to all staff and faculty. To register, go into STARS via Axess and sign up for EHS-5090, "Personal Emergency Preparedness."
Q. How should departments and other units prepare?
A. All departments on campus should have a basic life-safety plan based on university-provided templates. This plan should be communicated to all staff so that there is a basic understanding of how to respond during an emergency. This includes evacuation procedures, emergency assembly points and staff phone trees. In addition, departments should evaluate their operations to identify mission-critical functions and develop strategies to ensure that those functions can be maintained or quickly resumed after a business interruption. Each local organization will be best positioned to identify where their critical assets lie and what type of interruption will have a significant impact on their operation. For more information on university emergency plans, visit our website or send us an email.