University
disaster planning continues, but CSUH remains unprepared for
a large earthquake, according to Professor Sue Hirschfeld of
the department of geological sciences.
“The problem is not the university;
it is the community of students, faculty and staff that are
not prepared,” Hirschfeld said. “They don't know what
to do or how to react.”
Hirschfeld is the producer of
Academic Aftershocks, an award-winning documentary on
the damage sustained by CSU Northridge and the recovery process
in the hours, days and weeks following the January 1994 earthquake.
CSU Northridge was the most severely damaged university in a
natural disaster in U.S. history, according to Hirschfeld.
“Three months after the earthquake,
only three of the 58 buildings were open,” Hirschfeld said.
“Four hundred portables were brought in to serve as classrooms
and offices.”
In the event of a magnitude seven
earthquake on the southern segment of the Hayward fault, the
shaking is projected to be six times greater than the Loma Prieta
earthquake, according to the USGS.
How will CSUH fare during and
after a major earthquake?
“The whole campus is built
on bedrock,” said Randy Porter, associate vice president
of Facilities Planning and Operation. “We’re not quite
so vulnerable as sea-level structures.”
The geology department’s
web site estimates that the bedrock underlying CSUH is over
150 million years old.
In 1992, following the Loma Prieta
earthquake, a system-wide task force was assembled to assess
the structural integrity of CSU buildings. Over the past six
years, upgrades have been completed for the four buildings—Art
& Education, Physical Education, corporation yards and the boiler
building—identified for retrofit at the Hayward campus,
Porter said. The university is currently seeking funds for additional
bracing of library shelving, he added.
The task force found the remaining
campus buildings—including Warren Hall, one of the largest
structures in Hayward—up to earthquake standards.
Warren Hall sits 500 yards from
the southern Hayward fault. Its reinforced concrete foundation
sits on bedrock and structural engineers have determined that
it should hold up in the event of an earthquake, according to
Porter.
The science building at the Hayward
campus has a twin at CSU Northridge that Porter states “came
through the Northridge quake just fine.”
While Hirschfeld agrees that the
science building was structurally sound after the Northridge
quake, she points out that the inside was in shambles and there
were many fires.
“There were piles (of books
and rubble) four feet deep,” Hirschfeld said. “Rescuers
had to use chainsaws to get doors open.”
Hirschfeld’s message to campus
staff is to prepare now. “We have |
no
control over the shaking (of buildings),” she said, “but
we can control the damage and losses on the inside.” Hirschfeld
has strapped in her entire personal library to the wall shelves
with belts. Her computer, printer, and monitor are strapped
as well and a metal cabinet is bracketed to the wall.
“One professor lost his entire
life’s research,” Hirschfeld recalled. “You can
replace possessions, but you can't replace lost data.”
Hirschfeld recommends removing
objects that may fall from overhead, securing computers and
file cabinets, and keeping backup copies of all computer files
and research papers at home.
“And everyone should carry
a basic mini-survival kit in the car and keep one in their office
or dorm room,” she said.
Craig Ishida, director of Environmental
Health and Safety, underscored the importance of individual
responsibility. While the university is actively planning for
the eventuality of an earthquake, Ishida stressed that “each
person should take some individual responsibility (by) providing
for himself.”
If an earthquake occurs in the
evening or during the weekend, Pioneer Heights residents will
receive “first-priority response,” according to Regina
Metoyer, director of Housing and Residential Life. In addition
to aid from the university, the student apartment community
has its own disaster emergency supplies and strongly advises
residents to store food and water.
During class hours, emergency
response will be based on need. After an earthquake, Building
Safety Assistants will direct building evacuations and assist
disabled persons, according to Ron Kihara, administrative assistant
to the vice president, Administration and Business Affairs.
In addition, an Emergency Response
Team is currently being trained in light search and rescue and
disaster medicine and the campus is set up for helicopter service,
according to Ishida.
An agreement has been signed
with the Red Cross to establish a shelter and care area on campus
within 48 hours to service the surrounding community, Ishida
said. Food and water for 450 emergency workers for one day has
been purchased and a verbal agreement has been reached with
the University Union to provide food and water, he added.
Preparations are incomplete, however.
Emergency supply contracts still need to be arranged to provide
equipment and provisions, and water supplies may be insufficient,
depending on the magnitude of the disaster, according to Ishida.
In future months, he plans to investigate the potential of tapping
into boiler, swimming pool or water heater supplies, which would
have to be treated or filtered before use.
“We are a lot further along
than we were two years ago, but I will not be satisfied until
every person on campus has a survival kit with them,” Ishida
said. |
Is Cal State
Hayward