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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM THE LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE

Report from a Symposium Sponsored by the Geotechnical Board and the Board on Natural Disasters of the National Research Council

Symposium Held in Conjunction with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

Geotechnical Board Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems

Board on Natural Disasters Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems and

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1994

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
×

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the panel responsible for this report were chosen for their special expertise and with regard for appropriate balance between government, industry, and academia.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an advisor to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

SPONSORS: The U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Geological Survey, under Agreement No. 1434-92-A-1091, provided support to the National Research Council for this project. The National Science Foundation, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and National Institute of Standards and Technology provided support for the symposium through the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 94-66357

International Standard Book Number 0-309-05030-8

B-275

Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
×

COMMITTEE FOR THE SYMPOSIUM ON PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM THE LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE

MEMBERS

LLOYD S. CLUFF, Chair,

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco, California

CLARENCE R. ALLEN,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

THOMAS R. BECKHAM,

South Carolina Emergency Preparedness Division, Columbia

IAN G. BUCKLE,

State University of New York, Buffalo

WILFRED D. IWAN,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

SHIRLEY MATTINGLY,

City of Los Angeles, California

ROBIN K. MCGUIRE,

Risk Engineering, Inc., Golden, Colorado

CHRIS D. POLAND,

H.J. Degenkolb Associates, San Francisco, California

DENNIS E. WENGER,

Texas A&M University, College Station

T. LESLIE YOUD,

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

LIAISON REPRESENTATIVES

Geotechnical Board

JAMES K. MITCHELL, Chair,

University of California, Berkeley

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

PAUL SOMERVILLE,

Woodward-Clyde Consultants, Pasadena, California

SUPPORTING AGENCIES

WILLIAM ANDERSON,

National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.

WILLIAM BAKUN,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California

GARY JOHNSON,

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C.

RANDALL G. UPDIKE,

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

ROBERT WESSON,

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

RICHARD WRIGHT,

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
×

GEOTECHNICAL BOARD

MEMBERS

JAMES K. MITCHELL, Chair,

University of California, Berkeley

CLARENCE R. ALLEN,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

JOAN Z. BERNSTEIN,

Waste Management, Inc., Oak Brook, Illinois

DAVID E. DANIEL,

University of Texas, Austin

WILLIAM S. GARDNER,

W.S. Gardner and Associates, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

JAMES P. GOULD,

Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, New York, New York

FRANÇOIS E. HEUZE,

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California

CHARLES C. LADD,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

JAMES D. MURFF,

Exxon Production Research Company, Houston, Texas

SHLOMO P. NEUMAN,

The University of Arizona, Tucson

THOMAS D. O'ROURKE,

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

REUBEN SAMUELS,

Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York, New York

ROBERT L. SCHUSTER,

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado

DON W. STEEPLES,

The University of Kansas, Lawrence

STAFF

MAHADEVAN MANI, Director,

Division on Infrastructure, Energy and Environmental Engineering

PETER H. SMEALLIE, Director,

Geotechnical Board (1990 through 1993)

JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant

AMELIA B. MATHIS, Senior Secretary/Project Assistant

BROOK WILLIAMS, Assistant to Project (through January 1993)

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
×

BOARD ON NATURAL DISASTERS

MEMBERS

WALTER LYNN, Chair,

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

MARY B. ANDERSON,

Collaborative for Development Action, Cambridge, Massachusetts

ALAN G. DAVENPORT,

University of Western Ontario, London

RICHARD FISKE,

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

ROBERT D. HANSON,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

WILFRED D. IWAN,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

LUCILE M. JONES,

U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena, California

LESTER B. LAVE,

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SHIRLEY MATTINGLY,

City of Los Angeles, California

ROBERT L. ODMAN,

State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, Bloomington, Illinois

E.L. QUARANTELLI,

University of Delaware, Newark

LACY E. SUITER,

Tennessee Emergency Management Association, Nashville

STAFF

CAROLINE CLARKE GUARNIZO, Director

ROBIN L. ALLEN, Senior Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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Preface

The Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco area on October 17, 1989, causing the loss of 63 lives and $10 billion of damage. As the results of the research, conducted in response to the earthquake, became known over the following three years, the U.S. Geological Survey, the sponsor of much of the research, approached the National Research Council (NRC) about how the results of the Loma Prieta earthquake research could be applied to other earthquake-prone areas of the country.

The NRC's Geotechnical Board and Board on Natural Disasters formed a committee, under the auspices of the NRC, to plan a major symposium on lessons learned from research and related activities conducted on the Loma Prieta earthquake. The Committee on Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake, chaired by Lloyd Cluff, accepted the responsibility to develop the symposium agenda, invite the speakers, review the keynote papers, and coordinate activities with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, which was responsible for managing the symposium and inviting symposium participants. The Symposium on Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake took place in San Francisco on March 22-23, 1993, and was attended by over 400 individuals.

The committee also agreed to develop these proceedings, which consist of six keynote papers solicited by the committee for the major sessions of the symposium: Geotechnical; Buildings; Emergency Preparedness and Response; Lifelines; Highway Bridges; and Recovery, Mitigation, and Planning. Selected remarks by panels of discussants on the applicability to other areas of the country of each keynoter's lessons are included following each keynote paper. The

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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report also contains the opening keynote presentation by L. Thomas Tobin, the Executive Director of the California Seismic Safety Commission.

Drawing on the keynote papers and discussions at the symposium, an overview chapter has been written by the committee to present its summary of the principal lessons learned from the Loma Prieta earthquake. The overview contains, in addition, recommendations the committee believes are appropriate to improve seismic safety and earthquake awareness in areas of the country vulnerable to earthquakes but not as well-prepared as California.

The Geotechnical Board and the Board on Natural Disasters wish to thank the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute for its cooperation in planning and conducting the symposium. The boards also acknowledge the generous contributions of time and thought donated by all the speakers, discussants, and participants at the symposium.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
×

5.

 

LIFELINE PERSPECTIVE
Ronald T. Eguchi and Hope A. Seligson

 

135

   

Abstract

 

135

   

Introduction

 

135

   

Lifeline System Performance during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

 

137

   

Research Activities Initiated after the Earthquake

 

143

   

Transferability of Results

 

154

   

Future Research Directions

 

156

   

References

 

158

   

Discussants' Comments: Lifelines
Thomas D. O'Rourke, Donald Ballantyne, Charles R. Roberts, Steve Phillips

 

160

6.

 

HIGHWAY BRIDGES
James E. Roberts

 

165

   

Introduction

 

165

   

Performance of Prior Research Results

 

167

   

Problems with Existing Criteria, Details, and Practice

 

169

   

Research in Seismic Response of Bridges

 

173

   

Practical Lessons Applicable to Other Areas and States

 

197

   

Cited References

 

201

   

General References

 

206

   

Commissioned Research Projects

 

209

   

Discussants' Comments: Bridges
James D. Cooper, Gregoy Orsolini, Nicholas F. Forell, John Clark

 

213

7.

 

RECOVERY, MITIGATION, AND PLANNING
George G. Mader

 

219

   

Funding

 

220

   

Recovery Plans and Regulations

 

222

   

Mitigation

 

225

   

Importance of State Legislation

 

226

   

Demolition

 

228

   

Housing

 

229

   

Business Recovery

 

230

   

Conclusions

 

232

   

References

 

233

   

Discussants' Comments: Recovery, Mitigation, and Planning
Kenneth C. Topping, Patricia A. Bolton, Jerold H. Barnes

 

234

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Practical Lessons from the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2269.
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PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM THE LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE

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The Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco area on October 17, 1989, causing 63 deaths and $10 billion worth of damage. This book reviews existing research on the Loma Prieta quake and draws from it practical lessons that could be applied to other earthquake-prone areas of the country. The volume contains seven keynote papers presented at a symposium on the earthquake and includes an overview written by the committee offering recommendations to improve seismic safety and earthquake awareness in parts of the country susceptible to earthquakes.

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