Emergency Response to Earthquakes
Field Manual for Responding and Managing an Earthquake Disaster in a Rural
Environment
Contents:
Introduction – Document Layout
Earthquake Safety
Operational Considerations
Tactical Considerations
Logistical Considerations
Communications?
Resources
Appendix
Introduction
- Purpose and layout
- Response goals
- Response priorities
- Response phase tasks
Earthquake Safety
- Proper responses to shaking
- Types of post-earthquake hazards
- Working/operating in the post-earthquake environment
- Hyper-anxiety and post-traumatic stress from earthquakes
Operational Considerations
- Disaster intelligence
- Assessing the severity and extent of earthquake effects
- Resources needed for different post-earthquake situations and earthquake effects
- Command considerations & management team
- Assessing available resources
- Assessing needed outside resources
- Command center/EOC location, safety, and effectiveness
- Safety inspection teams
- Responder responsibilities
- Types of post-earthquake inspections and responsibilities
- Responder identification and badging
- Damage placards
- Aftershocks, weather, and other environmental considerations
- Public sheltering/animal sheltering
- Airspace considerations
- Support for response
- Handling the media
Tactical Considerations
- Post-earthquake safety inspection
- inspection team safety
- one person out rule
- response to aftershocks
- assessment approach/procedure
- victim discovery and reporting
- victim rescue
- posting placards on buildings
- Securing damaged areas
- safety perimeters
- road closure
- town closure
- Re-inspection following aftershocks
- Mass injuries
- Response to damaged structures
- homes
- buildings
- roads
- bridges
- dams
- fuel/propane leaks
- Response to collateral situations
- fire following earthquake
- multiple-fire triage
- HAZMAT incidents
- multiple-incident triage
- evacuation
- rock fall and landslide
- liquefaction
- Handling the public
- Windshield survey procedures
Appendix
- Earthquake characteristics and cautions
- earthquake shaking
- earthquake size
- aftershocks, foreshocks, multiple large events
- Glossary
- Acronyms
- Incident command flow chart
- Information/ websites
- Checklists and forms
- Public guidance and messaging
- Emergency declaration process
- General mutual aid/resource considerations
- General liability considerations