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U.S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper 1553-A

Prepared in cooperation with the National Science Foundation

The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989—Loss Estimation and Procedures

Edited by Susan K. Tubbesing

1994

Photo of signs taped to front of building that read 'Unsafe' and 'this building not be be occupied'

This Professional Paper includes a collection of papers on subjects ranging from evaluation of building safety, to human injuries, to correlation of ground deformation with building damage. What these papers share is a common goal to improve the tools available to the research community to measure the nature, extent, and causes of damage and losses due to earthquakes. These measurement tools are critical to reducing future loss.

Introduction, by Susan K. Tubbesing

  • Review, evaluation, and revision of the ATC-20 post-earthquake building safety evaluation procedures to include the Loma Prieta earthquake, by Robert A. Bruce

  • Casualties and emergency medical response, by Michael E. Durkin, Charles C. Thiel Jr., and James E. Schneider

  • Study methods and progress report: A case-control study of physical injuries associated with the earthquake in the county of Santa Cruz, by Robin M. Wagner, Nicholas P. Jones, Gordon S. Smith, and Frederick Krimgold

  • Preliminary statistics on losses associated with ground deformation, by Craig E. Taylor, Hope A. Seligson, David Fowler, and Craig W. Tillman

    • Download the text of this publication as a 78-page PDF file (pp1553a.pdf; 2.4 MB)

    For questions about the content of this report, contact Tom Holzer

    This publication is part of the set of four multi-chapter USGS Professional Papers on the Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989:

    Professional Paper 1550, Earthquake Occurrence, Coordinators: William H. Bakun and William H. Prescott

    Professional Paper 1551, Strong Ground Motion and Ground Failure, Coordinator: Thomas L. Holzer

    Professional Paper 1552, Performance of the Built Environment, Coordinator, Thomas L. Holzer

    Professional Paper 1553, Societal Response, Coordinator: Dennis S. Mileti

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    This report is also available from:

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    telephone: 888 ASK-USGS; e-mail: infoservices@usgs.gov

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    URL of this page: https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1553/pp1553a/

    Maintained by: Michael Diggles
    Created: July 15, 2006
    Last modified: July 16, 2006 (mfd)