The Mitigation Outreach Academy

…An Introduction to Earthquake

Introduction

FLASH developed the Mitigation Outreach Academy to equip volunteers with useful mitigation outreach resources as they advocate for home mitigation and preparedness before and after they serve in the disaster zone. Accurate, reliable, and relevant home mitigation information is critical to fostering an environment where communities build with resilience in mind, and volunteers carry that message effectively by combining it with their personal experience.

Volunteers are the boots on the ground after a disaster and can use their experiences and voices to help create disaster resilient communities. Using this Mitigation Outreach Academy Volunteer Toolkit, volunteers can inspire others to take action by translating experiences and lessons learned post-disaster into advocacy for pre-disaster mitigation activities.

The toolkit serves a dual function. It provides access to mitigation information and helps volunteers tell their story by transforming experience into educational tools. Volunteers can take resilience to the next level and recruit new advocates to the disaster safety movement, creating resilience influencers within their organizations and communities.

Table of Contents

My Story – A Volunteer’s Perspective Page 4-6Identify Your Risk Page 7Why Earthquake Resilience is Important Page 8Resilience and Affordability Page 9Volunteers Make a Difference – Resources Page 10Post-Quake Fires – Double Disasters Page 11Post-Quake Fires – Prevention Page 12Secure Your Contents – Why It’s Important Page 13Promoting Resilience – Securing Heavy Furniture Page 14Promoting Resilience – Securing Artwork Page 15Promoting Resilience – How-To Animation Page 16Amplify the Message – Drive Mitigation Page 17Earthquake Resources Page 18-19

Photos/VideosPhotos/Videos

(Users should insert photos and videos with short descriptors from the most recent

volunteer experience in the disaster zone)

My Story - A Volunteer’s Perspective

Photos/VideosPhotos/Videos

My Story - A Volunteer’s Perspective

(Users should insert photos and videos with short descriptors from the most recent

volunteer experience in the disaster zone)

• Homes and their contents can be protected against earthquakes before disaster strikes

• There are cost-effective ways to prepare your home and belongings for an earthquake

• Lack of building codes or use of older codes can increase damage vulnerability and modern seismic building codes are stronger because they are refined to include lessons learned after earthquakes

• Fires following disasters, including earthquakes, are often as devastating as the original disaster

My Story - A Volunteer’s Perspective

(Users should include important takeaways and lessons learned from the most recent volunteer

experience in the disaster zone)

Example takeaways below

Identify Your Risk

Communities should:• Identity Earthquake Risk

• All 50 states and territories are vulnerable to earthquakes. • California experiences the most frequent damaging earthquakes.• Earthquakes in the central or eastern United States effect much larger areas than earthquakes of

similar magnitude in the western United States.

• Plan for the Worst

Why Earthquake Resilience is Important

• Injury and loss of life 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake caused 63 deaths and approx. 3,700 injuries 1994 Northridge Earthquake caused 57 deaths and more than 9,000 injuries

• Economic and property loss 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake caused an est. $6 billion in property damage 1994 Northridge Earthquake - third costliest natural disaster in the nation’s history

• Systems and services crippled 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake closed ten bridges following major structural damage

and caused minor damage to approx. 80 bridges 1994 Northridge Earthquake caused seven major freeway bridges to collapse,

damaged 212 bridges, and disrupted regional traffic for weeks

Resilience and Affordability

• Affordable ways to be earthquake resilient Look Up: support ceiling fans and light pendants; brace masonry chimneys

back to the roof joists or reinforce roof sheathing Look Around: anchor bookcases, file cabinets and entertainment centers;

secure loose shelving; hang mirrors, pictures and plants using closed hooks to prevent items from falling

Look Down: ensure appliances have flexible gas or electrical connectors; strap down water heaters; locate the gas shutoff valve and know how to turn it off; relocate flammable liquids to a garage or outside storage location

• Licensed, bonded and insured contractors perform these retrofits Brace the cripple walls of wood framed crawl spaces by adding plywood or

diagonal sheathing to the stud walls. Install anchor bolts and steel plate washers. Brace the narrow wood frame walls around garage doors with plywood

panels and/or steel straps. Strengthen unreinforced masonry walls by bolting the walls to a new

interior steel frame.

Volunteers Make a Difference - Resources

• FLASH Quick Training Videos• FLASH Cards• How-to Animations – bringing

the FLASH Cards to life• QuakeSmart

Post-Quake Fires - Double Disasters

The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fires•The earthquake and fires caused an est. 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss

•Fires burned for three days and destroyed nearly 500 city blocks

•Often most remembered for the fires

The 1994 Northridge Earthquake•110 fires erupted across the region after the earthquake

•More than 70% of the fires were in single or multi-family homes

•Firefighting was stalled because of severe water system damage

• Quick Training Videos Earthquake Video: How to Prevent Post-Quake Fires

Post-Quake Fires - Prevention

Secure Your Contents - Why It’s Important

• Most earthquake-related injuries result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

• Southern California experiences approximately10,000 earthquakes a year, but most are not felt. Only several hundred are greater than magnitude 3.0, and only about 15-20 are greater than magnitude 4.0.

• Taking easy and affordable steps to mitigate can make a difference in many earthquakes.

• Quick Training Earthquake Video: How to Secure Heavy Furniture for an Earthquake

Promote Resilience - Securing Heavy Furniture

• Quick Training Earthquake Video: How to Secure Hanging Artwork for an Earthquake

Promote Resilience - Securing Artwork

• Bringing the FLASH Cards to life: Nonstructural Earthquake Animation

Promote Resilience - How-To Animation

Amplify the Message – Drive Mitigation

• Talk to community groups, including your own• Examples of local clubs you can reach out to:

Kiwanis clubs Exchange clubs Rotary clubs Women’s clubs Junior League Church youth groups Homeowner’s associations Local government meetings Local Chamber of Commerce Local young professional groups

• Traditional methods such as using flyers placed on billboards in cafes• Nontraditional ways such as social media and email• Host a volunteer “open house” event• Provide volunteer orientation/training • Host a luncheon

Earthquake Resources

www.flash.orgwww.protect-your-home.org

www.youtube.com/stronghomes

Earthquake: Protect Your Home FLASH Cardhttp://www.flash.org/resources/files/earthquake_prephome.pdf

Earthquake: Prepare Your Family FLASH Cardhttp://www.flash.org/resources/files/earthquake_prepfamily.pdf

Earthquake: Protect Your Contents FLASH Cardhttp://www.flash.org/resources/files/earthquake_protectcontents.pdf

Earthquake Protect Your Home in a FLASH Videos (Please click “CC - Closed Caption” for Spanish subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZVpsI8lvTU&list=PLR7GhNEQT6T9yaY_MWJ3KhuC4XiUEZ-Fv&index=2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WppMA1tqnAI&list=PLR7GhNEQT6T9yaY_MWJ3KhuC4XiUEZ-Fv&index=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYo3y0qN9W8&list=PLR7GhNEQT6T9yaY_MWJ3KhuC4XiUEZ-Fv&index=7

 

Earthquake Resources

QuakeSmart Community Resilience Programwww.quakesmartcommunity.org http://www.flash.org/quakesmart

The Great ShakeOutwww.shakeout.org

FEMA QuakeSmartwww.fema.gov/quakesmart

FEMA Earthquake www.fema.gov/earthquake

United State Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Programwww.earthquake.usgs.gov