The Mitigation
Outreach Academy
…An Introduction to Earthquake
Introduction
FLASH developed the Mitigation Outreach Academy to equip volunteers with useful
mitigation outreach resources as they advocate for home mitigation and preparedness
before and after they serve in the disaster zone. Accurate, reliable, and relevant home
mitigation information is critical to fostering an environment where communities build with
resilience in mind, and volunteers carry that message effectively by combining it with their
personal experience.
Volunteers are the boots on the ground after a disaster and can use their experiences and
voices to help create disaster resilient communities. Using this Mitigation Outreach
Academy Volunteer Toolkit, volunteers can inspire others to take action by translating
experiences and lessons learned post-disaster into advocacy for pre-disaster mitigation
activities.
The toolkit serves a dual function. It provides access to mitigation information and helps
volunteers tell their story by transforming experience into educational tools. Volunteers
can take resilience to the next level and recruit new advocates to the disaster safety
movement, creating resilience influencers within their organizations and communities.
Table of Contents
My Story – A Volunteer’s Perspective
Identify Your Risk
Why Earthquake Resilience is Important
Resilience and Affordability
Volunteers Make a Difference – Resources
Post-Quake Fires – Double Disasters
Post-Quake Fires – Prevention
Secure Your Contents – Why It’s Important
Promoting Resilience – Securing Heavy Furniture
Promoting Resilience – Securing Artwork
Promoting Resilience – How-To Animation
Amplify the Message – Drive Mitigation
Earthquake Resources
Page 4-6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18-19
My Story - A Volunteer’s Perspective
(Users should insert photos and videos with
short descriptors from the most recent
volunteer experience in the disaster zone)
Photos/Videos
My Story - A Volunteer’s Perspective
(Users should insert photos and videos with
short descriptors from the most recent
volunteer experience in the disaster zone)
Photos/Videos
My Story - A Volunteer’s Perspective
(Users should include important takeaways and
lessons learned from the most recent volunteer
experience in the disaster zone)
Example takeaways below
• Homes and their contents can be protected against earthquakes
before disaster strikes
• There are cost-effective ways to prepare your home and
belongings for an earthquake
• Lack of building codes or use of older codes can increase damage
vulnerability and modern seismic building codes are stronger
because they are refined to include lessons learned after
earthquakes
• Fires following disasters, including earthquakes, are often as
devastating as the original disaster
Identify Your Risk
Communities should:
• Identity Earthquake Risk
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All 50 states and territories are vulnerable to earthquakes.
California experiences the most frequent damaging earthquakes.
Earthquakes in the central or eastern United States effect much larger areas than earthquakes of
similar magnitude in the western United States.
Plan for the Worst
Why Earthquake Resilience is Important
•
Injury and loss of life
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Economic and property loss
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1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake caused 63 deaths and approx. 3,700 injuries
1994 Northridge Earthquake caused 57 deaths and more than 9,000 injuries
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake caused an est. $6 billion in property damage
1994 Northridge Earthquake - third costliest natural disaster in the nation’s history
Systems and services crippled
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1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake closed ten bridges following major structural damage
and caused minor damage to approx. 80 bridges
1994 Northridge Earthquake caused seven major freeway bridges to collapse,
damaged 212 bridges, and disrupted regional traffic for weeks
Resilience and Affordability
• Affordable ways to be earthquake resilient
 Look Up: support ceiling fans and light pendants; brace masonry chimneys
back to the roof joists or reinforce roof sheathing
 Look Around: anchor bookcases, file cabinets and entertainment centers;
secure loose shelving; hang mirrors, pictures and plants using closed
hooks to prevent items from falling
 Look Down: ensure appliances have flexible gas or electrical connectors;
strap down water heaters; locate the gas shutoff valve and know how to
turn it off; relocate flammable liquids to a garage or outside storage location
• Licensed, bonded and insured contractors perform these retrofits
 Brace the cripple walls of wood framed crawl spaces by adding plywood or
diagonal sheathing to the stud walls.
 Install anchor bolts and steel plate washers.
 Brace the narrow wood frame walls around garage doors with plywood
panels and/or steel straps.
 Strengthen unreinforced masonry walls by bolting the walls to a new
interior steel frame.
Volunteers Make a Difference - Resources
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FLASH Quick Training Videos
FLASH Cards
How-to Animations – bringing
the FLASH Cards to life
QuakeSmart
Post-Quake Fires - Double Disasters
The Great 1906 San Francisco
Earthquake and Fires
• The earthquake and fires caused an
est. 3,000 deaths and $524 million in
property loss
•
Fires burned for three days and
destroyed nearly 500 city blocks
•
Often most remembered for the fires
The 1994 Northridge Earthquake
• 110 fires erupted across the region after
the earthquake
•
More than 70% of the fires were in
single or multi-family homes
•
Firefighting was stalled because of
severe water system damage
Post-Quake Fires - Prevention
• Quick Training Videos Earthquake Video:
How to Prevent Post-Quake Fires
Secure Your Contents - Why It’s Important
• Most earthquake-related injuries
result from collapsing walls, flying
glass, and falling objects.
• Southern California experiences
approximately10,000
earthquakes a year, but most are
not felt. Only several hundred are
greater than magnitude 3.0, and
only about 15-20 are greater than
magnitude 4.0.
• Taking easy and affordable steps
to mitigate can make a difference
in many earthquakes.
Promote Resilience - Securing Heavy Furniture
• Quick Training Earthquake Video:
How to Secure Heavy Furniture for an Earthquake
Promote Resilience - Securing Artwork
• Quick Training Earthquake Video:
How to Secure Hanging Artwork for an Earthquake
Promote Resilience - How-To Animation
• Bringing the FLASH Cards to life:
Nonstructural Earthquake Animation
Amplify the Message – Drive Mitigation
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Talk to community groups, including your own
Examples of local clubs you can reach out to:
 Kiwanis clubs
 Exchange clubs
 Rotary clubs
 Women’s clubs
 Junior League
 Church youth groups
 Homeowner’s associations
 Local government meetings
 Local Chamber of Commerce
 Local young professional groups
Traditional methods such as using flyers placed on billboards in cafes
Nontraditional ways such as social media and email
Host a volunteer “open house” event
Provide volunteer orientation/training
Host a luncheon
Earthquake Resources
www.flash.org
www.protect-your-home.org
www.youtube.com/stronghomes
Earthquake: Protect Your Home FLASH Card
http://www.flash.org/resources/files/earthquake_prephome.pdf
Earthquake: Prepare Your Family FLASH Card
http://www.flash.org/resources/files/earthquake_prepfamily.pdf
Earthquake: Protect Your Contents FLASH Card
http://www.flash.org/resources/files/earthquake_protectcontents.pdf
Earthquake Protect Your Home in a FLASH Videos (Please click “CC - Closed
Caption” for Spanish subtitles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZVpsI8lvTU&list=PLR7GhNEQT6T9yaY_MWJ
3KhuC4XiUEZ-Fv&index=2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WppMA1tqnAI&list=PLR7GhNEQT6T9yaY_MW
J3KhuC4XiUEZ-Fv&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYo3y0qN9W8&list=PLR7GhNEQT6T9yaY_M
WJ3KhuC4XiUEZ-Fv&index=7
Earthquake Resources
QuakeSmart Community Resilience Program
www.quakesmartcommunity.org
http://www.flash.org/quakesmart
The Great ShakeOut
www.shakeout.org
FEMA QuakeSmart
www.fema.gov/quakesmart
FEMA Earthquake
www.fema.gov/earthquake
United State Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program
www.earthquake.usgs.gov