February 15, 2006

Building in ‘earthquake country’ means being prepared

By Warren Frey

A diverse group of experts addressed the question of how to properly prepare for the potentially devastating effects of earthquakes on structures at a seminar held on February 9 at the BC Construction Show in downtown Vancouver. Moderated by Jerry O’ Sullivan, the president of earthquake preparedness company QuakeKoso, Inc, the group explained the many different ways to both deal with a quake’s after effects and prepare for the inevitable, yet unpredictable seismic events that plague the West Coast.

“Doom, despair and destruction is the business we’re in,” O’Sullivan said with a grin.

But O’Sullivan wasn’t joking when he pointed to statistics highlighting the number of earthquakes that have struck BC in the past decade. California, which is widely regarded as the most earthquake-prone area of North America, only experienced six major earthquakes, whereas BC went through eight quakes.

But while O’Sullivan and the rest of his panel agreed there is little anyone can do to predict an upcoming disaster, building owners and operators can prepare for the aftermath of a quake or other natural disaster.

Jay Lewis, the president of Terra Firm Earthquake Preparedness, said the business of seismic risk mitigation boils down to fastening non-structural components to the building. In an earthquake, most of the damage occurs not in the structure itself but the contents of the building, which are often not secured.

“80 to 90 per cent of the value of a building is what’s in the building, not the building itself,” Lewis said.

But he said despite the obvious dangers, and despite the fact that most equipment is already equipped to be bolted down, generally objects are not restrained.

He added equipment on a building’s roof, such as HVAC apparatus or chillers, is often “just sitting there.”

Other furniture prevalent in the construction industry, such as map cabinets, is especially vulnerable, Lewis said.

“Anything stacked and not secured will fall,” he said.

O’Sullivan pointed out the worst part of the aftermath of any quake is gas fires, and said Vancouver is more at risk than most North American cities. With over 8000 km of natural gas pipes beneath the Greater Vancouver Regional District, only New York has a larger natural gas network underneath its streets, offices and homes.

“Fires will equal half of all losses. People are prepared for quakes, but they certainly aren’t prepared for a fire,” O’Sullivan said.

He also said many of the fires in the Kobe earthquake in 1995, which claimed many lives and cost billions in damage, originated from natural gas lines.

O’Sullivan explained that the reason for the lack of preparedness was that electricity, not natural gas was the fuel of choice when seismic preparedness began in earnest decades ago.

But he added that gas shut-off valves are a low-cost solution. He added though his own company has installed many valves in schools and hospitals in the GVRD, less progress has been made with residential structures.

Chris Wolfe, the president of VibraSonic Controls, Inc, said the Lower Mainland will probably not get hit with a huge earthquake, but the potential legal fallout will doubtless be intense.

“We may not get ‘the big one’, but it’ll probably be a ‘sue-itis’ earthquake, where everyone goes around sueing each other,” he said.

He added the the last ten years have seen a decline in seismic preparedness, because of the rise in residential construction and a concurrent lack of sophistication on the part of contractors.

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