Olympian file photo
The day after the Nisqually Earthquake, damage to Deschutes Parkway was apparent. Part of the road is still closed and will not be open until at least the end of this year.

Olympian file photo
The Fourth Avenue bridge was another casualty of the Nisqually Earthquake. The bridge, closed to traffic immediately after the quake, was demolished, a temporary bridge (center) was built, and work has started on a replacement bridge (right).

Remembering and rebuilding

Earthquake took its toll, but lessons have been learned

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2002

OLYMPIA -- The 6.8 magnitude Nisqually Earthquake was a close brush with calamity, a natural disaster filled with lessons both learned and ignored. "The more we looked at it, the more we realized how lucky we were," said Bill Steele, seismology lab coordinator at the University of Washington.

The region was lucky that the earthquake 11 miles northeast of Olympia occurred 30 miles beneath the earth's surface, which helped buffer the violence of the shock waves.

The region also was lucky that the ground shook for about 45 seconds -- long enough to cause damage, but not long enough to start shaking apart too many buildings, roads and bridges.

On the other hand, the region's biggest earthquake since 1949 might have created a false sense of security. No one was crushed to death by a collapsed building. Only the weakest of structures -- nonreinforced masonry buildings -- broke apart.

"It was a Mom and apple pie type of earthquake we see once or twice in our lifetime," Steele said.

Still, the Nisqually Earthquake took its toll:

- 400 injuries.

- More than $500 million in property damage.

- 41,414 people registered for federal disaster aid.

Harder to measure, but just as real, the earthquake wounded the region's psyche, reminding all of us that earthquakes pose a clear and present danger in the Northwest.

"I think it scared this community," said Kay Walter, director of the Thurston/Mason County American Red Cross. "It was a real wake-up call."

Hands-on science

The earthquake also provided a rare opportunity for scientists, researchers and engineers to study the energy released and damage inflicted by a powerful quake.

Earth scientists said the variation in ground motion recorded around the region was a revealing lesson in geology.

Aided by a network of 45 ground motion sensors that weren't in place when the last major earthquake hit the region in 1965, scientists have their best picture ever of which areas shake the most in a deep earthquake, the most common kind unleashed in Puget Sound.

"One of the big things we learned is how local geology accentuates the shaking," state Department of Natural Resources geologist Tim Walsh said.

For instance, the 40- to 80-foot depth of loosely consolidated soils and gravel found in the South Capitol neighborhood of Olympia serves as a conduit for earthquake energy that is particularly hard on single-family homes.

Consequently, chimney damage in the South Capitol neighborhood was the most concentrated of anywhere in Puget Sound, Walsh said.

Scientists also saw evidence that earthquakes exhibit directivity. In other words, the greatest amount of energy is released along the direction of the fault line or rupture line, Walsh said.

"Olympia and Seattle were on that line," Walsh said. "Tacoma was off of it."

Olympia and Seattle suffered major damage; Tacoma didn't.

"I live almost on top of the epicenter, and I just had two candles fall off the shelf," Walsh recalls.

More motion sensors need to be deployed to fill in the gaps, including in South Sound, Steele said.

A more complete network of sensors would tell emergency management officials instantly where the most damage from an earthquake likely occurred, which would help in dispatching aid where it is most needed.

In addition, localized information would be useful for determining the building design standards a community needs to protect against earthquake damage, Walsh said.

However, neither Congress nor the state has funded expansion of the seismic monitoring network in the Northwest, Steele said.

Local lessons

Local emergency management officials learned several lessons from the earthquake, said Thurston County emergency management coordinator Betty Schultz.

County and city officials need to better define their roles in a natural disaster that crosses city and county boundaries, she said.

"And we need to train more people to activate the county emergency operations center," she said.

The earthquake revealed the important role ham radio operators play in an emergency, she said.

"We learned that cell phones are no better than hard-wired phones in a natural disaster," she said.

The Feb. 28, 2001, quake reinforced the value of designing and remodeling buildings to withstand major earthquakes, said Diane Offord, state coordinating officer for the Nisqually Earthquake.

The bulk of damage in downtown Olympia was to brick and nonreinforced masonry buildings, said Subir Mukerjee, city director of planning and community development.

Building inspectors were put to the test, trying to explain subtle, sometimes invisible, damage to building owners frustrated to see their properties declared unsafe to occupy.

"Dealing with human issues -- that's something a textbook doesn't teach," he said. "Now we have firsthand experience of tremendous value to our staff."

Programs in the schools that teach educators and school children how to respond to an earthquake reduced some of the panic and chaos that such a traumatic event could have caused, she said.

"We've reached a lot of school children," she said. "Now we need to get to some of the adults."

Emergency preparedness officials used the earthquake to drive home their message that every family needs to have enough food, water and emergency supplies on hand to survive without help for 72 hours.

Families also are urged to establish an out-of-state phone contact and local meeting places for family members in case of an emergency.

"The message is not old hat," Schultz said. "We'll keep preaching it as long as we can."

Personal preparations

It's hard to tell how many South Sound residents have taken specific steps in the past year to better prepare their family and homes for the next big earthquake, Walter said.

However, she said, the Red Cross offers emergency planning workshops two or three times a month to businesses and neighborhood groups, compared with one every three months before the earthquake.

Vail area resident Dwight Middleton said he and his wife have taken several steps to prepare for the next earthquake.

"We have stocked up food for two weeks, have readied two generators and have supplies for water purification," he said. "I do expect the big one in the near future, and I consider our home prepared, as much as can be."

Robert Geissinger of Olympia recalls the anxious 90 minutes after the earthquake, trying to establish contact with his family, including a daughter and pregnant daughter-in-law who work in the basement of a state office building on the Capitol Campus.

"Within about 100 yards of where I parked my car near the Capitol Building, I spotted the two of them at a public phone trying to call me," he recalled. "I was very thankful to know we were all OK."

After the earthquake, Geissinger's family developed an emergency contact list that includes work, home, child care, and school addresses and phone numbers for each family member.

In many respects, the events of Feb. 28, 2001, have been overshadowed by the Sept. 11 attacks on American soil, the war in Afghanistan and global efforts against terrorism.

"The Sept. 11 event changed everyone's life forever," Offord said. "But the type of preparedness for terrorism is more or less the same as for an earthquake. Our approach is to plan for all types of hazards."

"Whatever the disaster is, you could be stranded without outside help for three days or more," Schultz said.

Schultz added this sobering thought: "As emergency planners and responders, we know that natural disasters like an earthquake are a lot more likely than a terrorist attack."

John Dodge covers the environment and energy for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-544 or by e-mail at jdodge@olympia.gannett.com.

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