Join your Chapter Colleagues at the June EERI-NC Chapter Meeting about motivating building owners to seismically retrofit their structures on a voluntary basis! As always, light food and drink will be provided.

Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Where: 240 Bechtel, UC Berkeley Campus, Berkeley, CA (walkable from Downtown Berkeley BART)
RSVP: chapterinfo@eerinc.org by Monday June 4th. Please RSVP so that we order enough food; however, don’t hesitate to bring along a suddenly inspired co-worker at the last minute!

Topic:

Mandatory Evaluations Can Motivate (Some) Landlords to Mitigate Seismic Risk

Speaker:

Sharyl Rabinovici is a doctoral candidate at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, where she studies the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies related to environmental and natural hazards. She is currently working on a mixed-methods dissertation evaluating the relative roles of risk perceptions, social influences, personality and emotions on individual precautionary behavior in the context of a new local policy mandate related to the seismic safety of apartment buildings. Starting in August 2012, she will be a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Mills College in Oakland, California.

Abstract:

The City of Berkeley’s Soft-Story Ordinance of 2005 was successful in motivating one of five affected apartment building owners to do a voluntary retrofit of their property’s soft-story condition. The law represents an important advancement in the use of local regulations to influence investments in seismic safety. By harnessing the power of social influences on decisionmaking, more owners were persuaded to act than likely would have from private communication of hazard information alone. In this presentation, our speaker will summarize behavioral insights from an in-depth case study of the law as well as implementation recommendations for other cities considering similar programs, and discuss technical issues (some of them daunting) regarding the assumptions and processes involved in using inventories to target high hazard properties.

Register today at:

chapterinfo@eerinc.org

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Venue:The Presidio Golden Gate Club, 135 Fisher Loop, Presidio, San Francisco  94129.

RSVP: http://bayquakealliance.org/meetings/rsvp/

Disaster resilience measures how well residents and communities can respond to, recover from and adapt to challenges posed by a disaster.  Building a resilient community is as much about ensuring the physical integrity of homes as it is about training residents to help their neighbors during a disaster, preparing businesses and organizations to resume operations post-disaster and coordinating emergency plans and services across different sectors so communities are empowered to help themselves.

The Bay Area Earthquake Alliance Meeting on April 24th will focus on how various programs play an integral role in engaging San Francisco residents and neighborhoods to become more prepared and readied for the next big earthquake and to increase their disaster resilience.

Special guests speakers include:

- Laurence Kornfield (San Francisco Earthquake Safety Implementation), The problem of providing services to an urban or suburban population living in damaged housing months after a large earthquake is critical.  What services will be most critically needed, and what do we need to do to prepare to deliver these services?

- Alan Kwok (American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter), The Ready Neighborhoods initiative was launched by the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter in partnership with PG&E to address the vulnerability of low income Bay Area neighborhoods during and after a disaster.   How is the Ready Neighborhoods initiative working to increase the capacity of these neighborhoods to prepare for and respond to disasters big or small?

- Erica Arteseros (San Francisco Fire Department), The San Francisco NERT has been trained to provide critical help in the immediate aftermath of a large earthquake.  How will their mission evolve in the months following a large earthquake?

- Kristin Hogan (San Francisco Department of Emergency Management), SF Heroes is a smart phone app that uses game mechanics to educate, motivate, inform, and reward people for learning how to prepare for emergencies.

AGENDA:

1:00p – 1:05p:              Opening Comments, Harold Brooks, President and CEO, American Red Cross Bay Area

1:05p – 1:35p:              Safe Enough to Stay – What needs to be done to enable residents to shelter in place for days and months after a large earthquake? By Lawrence Kornfield, Earthquake Safety Implementation Program, City and County of San Francisco

1:35p – 2:05p:              American Red Cross’ Ready Neighborhoods Initiative:  Building Disaster Resilience in Bay Area’s Vulnerable Communities  By Alan Kwok, Ready Neighborhoods Manager, American Red Cross Bay Area

2:05p – 2:35p:              SF NERT in the Aftermath of a Large Earthquake By Lt. Erica Arteseros, Program Coordinator for the SFPD Neighborhood Emergency Response Team, San Francisco Fire Department

2:35p – 2:50p:              Using Gamification to Promote Preparedness:  SF Heroes  By Kristin Hogan, Strategic Communication Planner, San Francisco Department of Emergency Management

2:50p – 3:00p:              Open Discussion/Other Business

3:00p:                          Conclusion

Register today at:

http://bayquakealliance.org/meetings/rsvp/

Jeanne Perkins (left) receives the Life Time Achievements award from Chapter President Janielle Maffei

At the February chapter meeting the Board of Directors presented a special award for “Life Time Achievements in Earthquake Risk Reduction” to Jeanne Perkins. Jeanne was also presented with a certificate of appreciation from the Association of Bay Area Governments and a proclamation from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.

From 1975-2006, Jeanne served as the Earthquake and Hazards Program Manager and Principal Scientist for the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), conducting cutting edge research and managing innovative projects to help the Bay Area handle natural and man-made disasters. Since retiring from ABAG, Jeanne has continued her work in the field through her private consulting firm.

Jeanne Perkins receives a Certificate of Appreciation from ABAG

Developed by Jeanne in 1995, ABAG is known by many for its comprehensive earthquake and hazards website http://quake.abag.ca.gov which disseminates understandable scientific information about natural hazards to the public and links the information with actions that local governments and residents can take to reduce their risk from these hazards. Two of the liquefaction and shaking hazard maps were developed under Jeanne’s leadership. Over the years Jeanne has produced many landmark reports and her estimates of uninhabitable housing units, displaced people and road closures in the Bay Area are cited often by earthquake professionals. For over 40 years Jeanne has brought immense passion and energy to ensuring that the Bay Area will be able to withstand an earthquake or natural disaster and her efforts will have a lasting impact on the Bay Area.

Career Highlights

• Earthquake and Hazards Program Manager and Principal Scientist from 1975-2006, conducting cutting edge research and managing innovative projects to help the Bay Area handle natural and man-made disasters
• Coordinating the development of a multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area, Taming Natural Disasters which was developed with 116 local jurisdictions throughout the region.
• Developing shaking and liquefaction hazard maps for the San Francisco Bay Area
• Estimating damaged and destroyed housing units in future Bay Area earthquakes and ideas to mitigate those losses in the report Shaken Awake!
• Conducting Studies examining the liability of both local governments and private industries for earthquake hazards and losses
• Estimating earthquake shaking, liquefaction and landslide impacts on the region’s transportation system, including airports, and ways to improve the recovery of that system in the reports Riding Out Future Quakes and Don’t Wing It
• Spear-heading ABAG’s disaster recovery planning initiative
• Leading the region to identify and advocate for the retrofit of soft-story residential buildings
• Developing ABAG’s popular website quake.abag.ca.gov in 1995 which remains a leader in disseminating understandable scientific information about natural hazards to the public and linking the information with actions that local governments and residents can take to reduce their risk from these hazards.

Join your Chapter Colleagues at the April EERI-NC Chapter Meeting about Lifelines Interdependency! As always, light food and drink will be provided.

Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Where: Arup office, 560 Mission Street, Suite 700, San Francisco
RSVP: chapterinfo@eerinc.org by Monday April 23rd (the meeting is free and open to all, but the guestlist is limited to the first 60 who respond and only those on the guestlist will be able to access the Arup office.)

Topic:

Lifelines Interdependency Research, Lessons, and Mitigation Efforts Underway in the San Francisco Bay Area

Panelists:

	Dr. Leonardo Duenas-Osorio Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
	Ms. Danielle Hutchings ABAG Earthquake and Hazards Program Coordinator
	Dr. Laurie Johnson Lifelines Interdependency Study Coordinator, CCSF Lifelines Council

Abstract:

Modern, technology-based societies rely heavily upon lifeline systems and increasingly expect zero-downtime performance in services. Recent earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, New Zealand, and Japan have shown that lifeline systems are both individually and collectively vulnerable, and that they are also highly interconnected and depend upon each other for restoration and recovery. Lifelines interdependency is an emerging field of earthquake/disaster research, and achieving resilient communities, means having lifeline systems that are both individually and collectively reliable.

This EERI Northern California Chapter meeting will feature a panel discussion on the emerging field of lifelines interdependency modeling and research as well as efforts underway in the San Francisco Bay Area, with leadership by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF) Lifelines Council to understand lifeline interdependency in the region and develop more effective response and recovery strategies as well resilience-based guidelines for lifelines systems.

Register today at:

chapterinfo@eerinc.org

From the February 11, 2003, minutes of the Board of Directors:

“President Yanev described possible categories of awards, eligible organizations and individuals, procedures for nominations and the names of the awards. The Board discussed several possibilities and agreed to give two annual awards, one to an individual, and one to an organization.

The Board agreed to approve two annual awards and to have the Awards Committee revise the protocols for selecting recipients. The awards would be given to an individual and/or an organization at a meeting of the Chapter membership in recognition of innovation or exemplary practice. The awards would be suitable certificates.”

Past award recipients are:

2011 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Laurence Kornfield, Special Assistant to the City Administrator for Earthquake Safety Implementation, City and County of San Francisco

Organization: East Bay Municipal Utility District Seismic Improvement Program (David Pratt accepting)

2010 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Gregory McFann, City of Alameda Chief Building Official

Organization: Bay Area Rapid Transit Earthquake Safety Program (Tom Horton accepting)

2009 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Oakland City Councilwoman Jean Quan and Policy Analyst Susan Piper

Organization: San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (Sarah Karlinsky and Chris Poland accepting)

2007 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Dan Shapiro

Organization: City of Fremont (Massoud Abolhoda accepting)

2006 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Mary Lou Zoback

Individual: Marguerite Bello

2005 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: David Bonowitz

Organization: City of Berkeley

2004 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Zan Turner

Organization: Association of Bay Area Governments Earthquake Program

2003 Awards for Innovation and Exemplary Practice

Individual: Christopher Rojahn

Organization: City of Portola Valley

Laurence Kornfield (with guest of honor Julia) accepts the 2011 Chapter Award for "Leadership, Innovation, and Outstanding Accomplishments in Earthquake Risk Reduction" from Chapter President Janiele Maffei

Laurence Kornfield has been a champion for seismic safety in the public administration of San Francisco for many years. As chief building official, he helped conceive of the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) and was instrumental in finding support and funding for the program. He worked for over a decade to make CAPSS a reality, helping the program overcome a temporary suspension, and bringing it to successful closure in December of 2010. He made sure a wide range of voices in the city contributed to CAPSS by creating a diverse panel of stakeholders that was actively involved in every step of the program. The recommendations from CAPSS provide a roadmap for how San Francisco should reduce earthquake risk, protect the city’s way-of-life, and become a more resilient community.

Laurence is passionate about making earthquake risk reduction more accessible to regular people. Through CAPSS and other efforts, he has worked on innovative, simple, and affordable retrofit techniques. One example is his work to develop a system to brace garage doors to improve the house-over-garage buildings so prevalent in San Francisco. He also continually encourages companies and engineers to develop standardized and affordable retrofit methods.   He made sure that CAPSS focused on the social, economic, and cultural consequences of future earthquakes in San Francisco, aspects that are meaningful and influential to city residents and policymakers but are often overlooked by engineers.

Laurence’s leadership has provided the City and County of San Francisco with a roadmap to a more resilient city and significant political will to work towards this goal. CAPSS is already serving as a model for communities around the world, and hopefully successful implementation of its recommendations will soon follow.

Manager of Design David Pratt accepting the award on behalf of EBMUD

Since 1994, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has been working diligently to reduce the risk of damage to the water system following a catastrophic seismic event, improving fire-fighting capabilities, and protecting customers from long, disruptive outages. To cost effectively upgrade their facilities, EBMUD has used the latest advances in seismic strengthening, adopting new technologies where possible. To date EBMUD has spent over $200 million on its Seismic Improvement Program.

To maintain public support for the Seismic Improvement Program, the District educates the public about seismic risks in the Bay Area through an extensive community outreach program. This program has also been used to develop a single message on how to store emergency water supplies, and has been successful through partnerships with other agencies and state and local Offices of Emergency Services.

EBMUD’s leadership and outstanding improvements will assure that many of their 1.2 million customers will have access to clean water even after a large earthquake.

The annual Award for “Leadership, Innovation, and Outstanding Accomplishments in Earthquake Risk Reduction” acknowledge successful risk reduction efforts outside of the Chapter.  Each year the Chapter gives two awards, to an individual and an institution, in recognition of their hard work and dedication towards the reduction of seismic risk in Northern California. The recipients represent best practice examples of putting the science and engineering of earthquakes to work and demonstrate valuable contributions to the various disciplines and pursuits represented in the Chapter. The Chapter presented its first awards in 2003. Recent recipients include BART’s Earthquake Safety Program (2010), SPUR’s Resilient City initiative (2009), City of Alameda building official Greg McFann (2010), and City of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan (2009).

Please join in this hands-on, volunteer activity to help make Bay Area communities safer.  Our first planning meeting for this program will be on February 7, 2012 at noon.  If you would like to participate, please contact Heidi Faison at hfaison@berkeley.edu for more information.

Our first activity will be to make a comprehensive inventory of the buildings in the city, in partnership with Albany city officials.  This inventory will identify the building types in Albany that may be vulnerable to damage in earthquakes.

On February 7, we will begin planning for the entire program and form a committee to start detailed planning for the building inventory effort.  We plan to discuss the ways we expect to use this inventory, identify the information that needs to be collected, review data collection forms used in other inventory efforts, and explore using prepopulated databases and mobile devices (e.g., ipads or smartphone) to assist in the inventory collection.

If you cannot join us on February 7, there will be many future ways you can participate:

• Review and provide feedback about the draft inventory procedures and forms developed by the committee above.
• Help pre-populate the inventory database with information from online sources such as Google Earth and Albany’s assessors data.  This pre-population of information will be later verified and enhanced by participants who join in an inventory field day.
• Join a committee to coordinate the logistics for a field day in Albany where volunteers will complete a thorough inventory using the forms and pre-populated database developed above.
• Volunteer for a one-day walking inventory field activity throughout the City of Albany – likely to take place in summer 2012.
• Work on defining specific seismic hazard information for Albany.
• Participate in customized HAZUS runs for Albany, using the seismic hazard and inventory information described above.
• Join a working group that will write and present a summarizing report to City stakeholders about the inventory results, hazard data, etc.

For more information about the Adopt-a-City program, visit the EERI NC Site: http://www.eerinc.org/?page_id=1015

The USGS invites all EERI NC Chapter members to attend and contribute to a Discussion Panel on “Making Your City Resilient to Earthquakes.”

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Time: 9:30am-11:30am
Venue: USGS, Menlo Park in the Building 3 Auditorium (Campus Map and Directions).

The Panel Discussion starts the second day of a two-day Workshop on Earthquake Hazards in Northern California. The workshop is free and open to all. The first day of the Workshop, on Tuesday, January 24, is devoted to scientific presentations and discussions of the problems of estimating earthquake hazard in Northern California. Please visit https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/workshop/ to register and to obtain additional information about both the scientific sessions and this important Panel Discussion.

The Panel Discussion on the Resilient City Initiative, which has been spearheaded by SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association) represents a critical step for both earthquake preparedness and earthquake response, and the panel discussion will challenge the earthquake mitigation and planning communities to consider how to implement this initiative, not only in San Francisco, but throughout the Bay Area and California.

Download the full Meeting Description and Agenda (pdf file, 50 KB)

Join your Chapter Colleagues at the February EERI-NC Chapter Meeting about Mitigation and Insurance!  As always, light food and drink will be provided.

Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Venue: ABAG Auditorium, 101 8th Street, Oakland, CA 94607 View Google Map

RSVP: chapterinfo@eerinc.org Please RSVP so that we order enough food; however don’t hesitate to bring along a suddenly inspired co-worker at the last minute!

Topic: Mitigation and Insurance: A combined approach to earthquake resiliency
Presenter: Janiele Maffei, California Earthquake Authority

Abstract:
EERI-Northern California Chapter President Janiele Maffei joined the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) as Chief Mitigation Officer (CMO) in May 2011. With her experience as a Structural Engineer, Ms. Maffei will be managing the CEA’s California Residential Mitigation Program. The program was created to provide rebates to California homeowners who retrofit their dwellings. As CMO, Ms. Maffei will also manage CEA research and educational programs on earthquake mitigation.

In November 2011, Ms. Maffei traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand to observe damage to residential structures from ground shaking, liquefaction, and lateral spreading. As a guest of the New Zealand Earthquake Commission, the EQC, she met with engineers, geologists, contractors, and building officials. Christchurch is a laboratory for the study of recovery efforts as nearly 100% of homes were insured for earthquake damage and the EQC is managing all of the repair work. The area also provides an opportunity to observe the effects of ground failure due to earthquakes on single family dwellings. At the February EERI-NC meeting Ms. Maffei will describe the CEA, the Mitigation Program and lessons learned from the recent Christchurch earthquakes.