USGS Response to an Urban Earthquake:
Northridge '94

Open-File Report 96-263

Preface

Document Preparation Information

Summary

• A Direct Hit on a Modern American City
• USGS Roles and Actions in the Response
• The Earthquake's Setting and Impacts
• Evaluating Ground Response
• Ground Failures and Landslides
• Investigating Building and Freeway Damages
• Updating Seismic Hazards Assessments
• Facilitating Communications
• Creating Policies and Plans for Seismic Safety

Introduction

• The Earthquake and its Impacts
• The Early Response -- Collecting Information and Organizing Communications
• The Long-Term Response -- New Experience with an Urban Earthquake
• The Tasks of the NEHRP Agencies

Assisting Recovery, Reconstruction, and Mitigation

• The Immediate Response -- Working with Others During the Immediate Aftermath of the Earthquake
• Database Management -- The Basis for Effective Response, Recovery, and Mitigation
• Damage and Intensity Inventories -- Assessing the Areal Extent and Types of Damage

Studying the Setting and Consequences of the Earthquake

• The Main Shock
• The Geological Setting
• The Local Effects of Strong Ground Shaking
• The Causes and Effects of Liquefaction, Settlements, and Soil Failures
• Landslides -- Common and Unexpected Effects
• Damage to the Built Environment
• Hazards Assessment

Communicating and Applying What We Learned

• Communicating and Applying What We Have Learned
• This Report
• Upgrading the Seismic Instrumentation Network
• Continuous GPS Monitoring
• Speeding Earthquake Disaster Relief Using CUBE
• Special Publications -- Magazines and Fact Sheets
• The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC)
• Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country
• From the Handbook... The road to earthquake safety.
• Updating California’s Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

Conclusions: Working Toward National Seismic Safety

NEHRP Tasks Assigned to the USGS

References/Notes

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1996/ofr-96-0263/ Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:04 EST 2016