No quicker quake response than at the Hutch; buildings old and new get a clean bill of health

General Article

Randy Colebank, lead power-plant engineer, checks Day Campus boiler-rrom pipes for cracks. Photo by Michelle Hruby

Even before the ground stopped shaking during the Feb. 28 earthquake, Jim Walker, the assistant manager of the Hutch's Facilities Engineering department, was on his cell phone with the Center's structural engineering consultants arranging a site visit.

"Because of Jim's quick action, the Hutch was the first organization that KPFF responded to," said Facilities Engineering manager Bob Cowan, referring to the firm that provided structural design for several Day Campus buildings.

"They were on-site within three hours of the quake, which is remarkable when you consider that if someone had waited until Thursday to call, we would have been put on a list that is more than two weeks long."

Speedy response was characteristic of the entire Facilities team, which performed immediate inspections of all Hutch buildings - including those at the Day Campus, Metropolitan Park and Eklind Hall - after the magnitude 6.8 temblor and was quickly able to reassure faculty and staff that no buildings had suffered any structural damage.

"Each operating engineer went to a building and checked it from top to bottom," Cowan said.

By all accounts, the Hutch received a clean bill of health.

Minor, superficial damage

"We did not experience significant damage to any Center structures," said Scott Rusch, director of Facilities. "We did experience some minor, superficial damage - a few broken bricks here and there, cracked terra cotta, a few cracks in drywall. The older buildings held up fine, as well, with just a few minor cracks."

The tremor caused a power spike that resulted in a momentary shutdown of many Center systems, including air exhaust and fans and several elevators designed to respond to seismic activity.

"Within 15 minutes, Rick Larson, our control lead, had all critical systems up and running and went on to coordinate recovery efforts for less critical systems," Cowan said.

While many faculty and staff were amazed to find their surroundings intact after the force of the shaking, Rusch said state-of-the-art structural design and a thorough seismic program kept Hutch buildings steady and occupants safe.

"Phase I - the Weintraub and Hutchinson buildings - was designed for "life safety" for an earthquake with a size predicted to occur once every 500 years," Rusch said.

" 'Life safety' means damage resulting from the 500-year event is moderate, life safety is protected, and while the structure may be damaged, it and any falling hazards remain stable."

Structural engineers are not able to name an earthquake measurement, such as 6.8, that a given building will withstand because multiple factors - including soil quality, distance from the quake and acceleration of the earth due to the seismic activity - can influence the impact.

Seattle's earthquake-risk rating was upgraded to a classification of 3 on a scale from 0 to 4, after the major 1949 quake centered near Olympia.

"Seattle code requires that buildings meet zone 3 seismic requirements," Rusch said, "but the design of Phases II and III (the Thomas building and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance clinic) were upgraded to exceed the current code. Those buildings are designed to meet zone 4 requirements."

Phase IV structures, including the new Yale office and Public Health Sciences Division buildings, also will be constructed to meet zone 4 requirements.

In addition to the building structure, all of the buildings' infrastructure systems have been braced to prevent damage, Rusch said. Pipe racks, pumps, chillers, boilers, emergency generators and electrical gear have been bolted to the floor or walls to prevent movement from seismic forces.

"In many cases, contractors had to be quite creative in the design of these braces so that the normal vibration of equipment did not transfer to the structure," he said.

In labs, casework has seismic accommodations that include bracing and lips on shelves.

Wall braces

Additionally, the Center has implemented a "non-structural" seismic program in the past five years. Biosafety cabinets, freezers, incubators and other large equipment are braced to walls. This program, originally managed by Debbie Shiozaki in Environmental Health and Safety, is managed by Mark Moran, construction coordinator.

Because the Feb. 28 quake was a first for many at the Hutch, some were confused about safety practices. EH&S Director Stephen Benedict said it is crucial for faculty and staff to know how to respond properly.

See EH&S procedures at http://www.fhcrc.org/admin/facilities/ehs/legearthqua.htm. "We are working on getting a link on the EH&S web page to a site that provides on-line earthquake safety training," Benedict said.

He urged staff and departments to buy supplies that could be critical in a worse quake.

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Recommended earthquake supplies

Responsibility of individual

• Emergency food and water.
  
  
• Essential medication.
  
  
• Cash and credit cards.
  
  
• Sturdy shoes.
  
  
• Personal-hygiene items.
  
  
• Warm clothing or aluminized emergency blanket.
  
  
• Emergency contact phone numbers. It is best to establish a plan with family members. For example, contact a relative out of the area who can relay information for you. Make sure family members, schools and day cares have this number. It is usually easier to reach a number outside of a disaster area.

Responsibility of department

• Flashlight(s) and extra batteries.
  
  
• Portable battery-operated radio and extra batteries.
  
  
• First-aid kit.

Who to call

In the event of a seismic emergency, the operating status of the Center is available at Ext. 4000.

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