Title : Tip40128 Tip Sheet Type : News NSF Org: OD / LPA Date : January 28, 1994 File : tip40128 January 28, 1994 *** SPECIAL EDITION *** ***NSF-FUNDED EARTHQUAKE RESEARCH *** This special expanded edition of the Tipsheet focuses exclusively on earthquake-related projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). For details on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer noted at the end of each item at (703) 306-1070. Background: The first phase of NSF's response to the January 17, 1994, "Northridge" earthquake -- the collection of "perishable information" -- began immediately after the quake. Working with three other agencies involved in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, NSF is now developing a program for long-term research. This is the pattern followed in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco when, using supplemental funds, NSF supported more than 70 special research projects at a total of $3 million ($2 million to earthquake engineering and $1 million to earth science). The agency's earthquake-related research is coordinated by William Anderson of the engineering directorate (703/306-1362) and James Whitcomb of the geosciences directorate (703/306-1556). NSF HELPED L.A. PREPARE FOR REBUILDING -- BEFORE THE QUAKE A devastating earthquake triggers a massive response, but after the emergency crews come and go, the long, hard task of rebuilding a community is just beginning. With a $165,000 grant from the NSF, a Portola Valley, California, firm helped local government officials in six earthquake-prone areas across the country -- including Los Angeles officials some 14 months ago -- prepare for the potentially immense job of rebuilding. Through simulation exercises, the project helped city planners, finance officers, building inspectors, firemen and others understand the responsibilities they could face, such as demolition, finding temporary housing and business sites, preparing reconstruction plans, and focusing on ways to lessen the impact of future earthquakes. For details, call the project directors -- Martha Tyler and George G. Mader of William Spangle and Associates -- at (415) 854-6001. [Sean Kearns] -more- -2- SCIENTISTS AT NSF RESEARCH CENTER DEVELOP SEISMIC ZONE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE EARTHQUAKE PROBABILITY ESTIMATES Scientists at the NSF-funded Southern California Earthquake Center are developing a classification system for the likelihood of an earthquake in some 65 seismic zones. Earthquake probabilities are classified depending on the amount of seismological information existing for a given area. For example, the Northridge quake occurred in a zone recognized to have a high probability of a damaging earthquake. Earthquake response plans for these areas are also being developed by researchers at the center. Scientists affiliated with the University of Southern California, the California Institute of Technology, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of San Diego, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of California at Santa Cruz, Columbia University and the U.S. Geological Survey form the core of the Southern California Earthquake Center, one of 25 NSF Science and Technology Centers. Other academic institutions and private corporations participate in research projects. The goal of the center is to develop plans to mitigate injury and loss of life, and reduce property and other damage from earthquakes in southern California. Center scientists are currently working on a prototype seismic hazard model for southern California that will provide a framework for planning, engineering and construction code revision. Tom Henyey, director of the center, may be reached at: (213) 740-5832. [Cheryl Dybas] WHEN THE FLOOR SHAKES UNDER A PERSON IN A WHEELCHAIR To understand how someone in a wheelchair might behave in an earthquake, an NSF-supported researcher at L.A.'s University of Southern California (USC) observed the behavior of paraplegic and quadriplegic individuals as they experienced simulated tremors. Two levels of fake quakes -- resembling 4.5 and 6.5 on the Richter scale -- were depicted in a 24- by 12-foot "static room," and the subjects were charged with maneuvering through the disarray to a door. According to researcher Mansour Rahimi of USC's Institute of Safety System Management, "There are tremendous obstacles for disabled people after an earthquake. But these people, even though they were severely physically disabled, had the psychological strength to handle the tasks." Rahimi can be reached at (213) 740-4016. [Sean Kearns] GETTING R&R RESEARCH OUT OF LABS AND INTO BUILDINGS Through its wide-ranging special initiative on repair and rehabilitation (R&R) of hazardous buildings, NSF helps R&R researchers around the world communicate with each other. It also helps speed the transfer of design, construction and materials research into cost- effective retrofitting. -more- -3- For example, one R&R project studied the evaluation and rehabilitation of "tilt-up structures"; these are cast horizontally and then tilted into a vertical position to make walls for warehouses and other light industrial buildings. Another project explored the strengthening of columns with "jackets," a method now being used successfully. In its fourth year, the 16- project initiative is coordinated by James O. Jirsa of the University of Texas, Austin; he can be reached at (512) 471-4582. [Sean Kearns] WHACKS AND WAVES: DELICATE HAMMER REVEALS CONCRETE FLAWS Looking into non-destructive ways to peer into structures, some University of Texas researchers developed a way to use a high-tech hammer and sensors to evaluate damage in reinforced concrete. Called spectral analysis of surface waves, the method involves hitting the surface of concrete with a hammer that's calibrated to time its impact; the sensors are strategically placed to derive enormous amounts of data from the stress waves they pick up. Computer analysis then helps researchers reveal flaws in the material. The $153,000 project was directed by Kenneth H. Stokoe, (512) 471-3434. [Sean Kearns] BURIED LIFELINES: WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE... Images from Los Angeles of geysers of flame emerging from flooded boulevards provided a harsh view of the usually hidden underground networks that cities rely upon. These networks -- which carry water, sewer, oil and gas -- are so critical they're called buried lifelines. Leon Wang, an NSF-funded researcher at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, recently spent more than two years studying ways to strengthen vulnerable buried lifelines before an earthquake, and devising ways to repair them in emergencies afterward. [Sean Kearns] HINGING ON BRIDGES: A $55 MILLION LESSON PROVES WORTHY After the 1971 earthquake in the San Fernando Valley, California's Department of Transportation spent $55 million and 14 years to retrofit 1,250 bridges in the state. According to NSF-supported researcher Emmanuel Maragakis's analysis, the retrofitting (which involved installing cables to restrain the bridge sections from unhinging) "performed very effectively" during earthquakes. Using models to analyze the response of several bridges, Maragakis, a researcher at the University of Nevada at Reno, and his colleague, Mehdi Saiidi, also found that the standard design procedure, though it conservatively errs on the side of safety, could be improved. Maragakis can be reached at (702) 784-4839. [Sean Kearns] -more- -4- AFTER THE AFTERSHOCKS: LEARNING FROM LOMA PRIETA By coupling the fortune of advanced scientific methods with California's increasingly active faultlines, NSF-funded researchers learned much from the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. Studies focused on, among other issues, the management of transportation systems in preparedness, response and recovery; the extent to which seismic shutoff valves and other safety devices help prevent fires caused by natural gas leaks; the performance of electric power transmission systems; and the earthquake's effect upon sanitary landfills, university buildings, earthen dams, storage tanks, housing and rental markets, and the regional economy. [Sean Kearns] PROJECTING EMERGENCY SHELTER: WHO MIGHT NEED IT IN NEXT SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA EARTHQUAKE Using data from Red Cross shelters, building officials and the 1990 census, an NSF-funded research group is developing models for the San Francisco Bay area that it hopes will improve the nation's emergency planning, disaster response and residential rebuilding efforts. The models will project estimates of "housing habitability" based on a neighborhood's proximity to the earthquake source and underlying geologic materials, and show how shelter populations are related to patterns of structural damage. The project will also assess the demographic characteristics of the shelter population compared to the overall impacted population. [Sean Kearns] -end- The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the federal government established in 1950 to promote and advance scientific progress in the United States. NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by competitively awarding grants to educational institutions for research and education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. This and other information is available electronically on STIS, NSF's Science and Technology Information System. For more information about STIS contact the Publications Section at (703) 306-1130 and request the "STIS Flyer," NSF Publication #91-10, or send an E-mail message to stisinfo@nsf.gov (INTERNET) or stisinfo@NSF (BITNET).