The California Earthquake Clearinghouse – Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence July 2019

Session: Weathering the Earthquake Storms: Crisis Communication Following Major Events
Type: Oral
Date: 4/28/2020
Time: 11:15 AM
Room: 215 + 220
Description: 

The California Post-Earthquake Information Clearinghouse was established in 1972 to provide State and Federal disaster response managers, affected agencies and the scientific community with prompt information on ground failure, structural damage and other consequences of a significant seismic event. After a major and/or damaging earthquake in CA, the California Geological Survey is mandated to establish a clearinghouse in coordination with its managing partners: Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, United States Geological Survey, California Office of Emergency Services and California Seismic Safety Commission. The Clearinghouse links the scientific and engineering communities with agencies and organizations responsible for emergency response and recovery so that their findings can inform response and recovery efforts. It supports coordination of field reconnaissance efforts and manages access to restricted areas. The July 2019 Ridgecrest Clearinghouse operated for 7 days on site and had over 50 experts from federal, state, public and private organizations conducting reconnaissance. Expertise spanned many disciplines: geosciences, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, nonstructural components, insurance, lifelines, transportation, government, risk analysis and business continuity. The EERI Learning from Earthquakes program provided the event virtual clearinghouse and support to share field data, photos, preliminary reports and links to imagery. A suite of GIS and other digital tools were available to rapidly collect and compile field data. Rapid synthesis of data also supported situational awareness maps, images for media, defining areas of interest for lidar collection and assisting field teams to efficiently map a broad rupture region. This event provided an opportunity to test, improve and refine methods for rapidly collecting, aggregating and disseminating field observations after a large and complex surface rupturing earthquake.

Presenting Author: Cynthia L. Pridmore

Authors