Responding to an earthquake: Alaska's transportation agency shares some lessons learned about emergency response

Public Roads, Nov-Dec, 2003 by Shannon McCarthy

Tremors hit. They strike during different days of the week and different times, summer or winter, and range from a mild shake to a true world-class disaster. Despite occasional shakes, or perhaps because of them, few people are prepared to make the transition from the normal activities of their daily work lives to responding to an earthquake disaster. But emergency plans and preparedness help States, communities, and individuals make that transition more quickly, with the right tools to get the job done.

At 1:13 p.m. on Sunday, November 3, 2002, Alaska's interior shook from the State's largest earthquake in more than 30 years. At 7.9 on the Richter magnitude scale, the Denali Fault Earthquake reverberated throughout Alaska and continued releasing energy far to the southeast of its epicenter. Shocks were felt as far away as Pennsylvania and Louisiana.

Although measurable earthquakes occur in Alaska every day, officials at the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) immediately recognized that this quake was significant. They stepped into emergency response rapidly and effectively. Still, the Denali Fault Earthquake taught management and operators "alike what it is like to respond to a large-scale disaster-and how to improve the planning and preparedness processes.

Alaska DOT&PF operates trader two emergency plans. One is the Alaska Emergency Operations Plan, which outlines the actions that the State, local communities, and the private sector should take in the event of a disaster. The other is the State's Emergency Highway Traffic Regulation, updated in 1998, which outlines procedures for coordinating major military deployments with civilian traffic management in the event of a national emergency.

Within days after the Denali Fault Earthquake, Alaska DOT&PF moved from response to recovery. Design engineers, construction experts, and private sector contractors joined maintenance and operations personnel.

"This transition was crucial and yet the most difficult in the emergency response because it involved multiple organizations and the coordination of resources," says Northern Region Director Andrew Niemiec. He adds, "We had a lot of experience under our belts, but some we had to gain on the job."

The Events of Sunday, November 3

Within an hour after the earthquake occurred, a small group of Alaska DOT&PF staff, including the director of the Maintenance and Operations Division, the public information officer, and area managers, gathered at the regional headquarters in Fairbanks, AK. The group began the process of assessing the damage and reporting what they knew to Alaska State Troopers, the media, and the public. Together, they acted as the DOT&PF Emergency Operations Center.

Meanwhile, Alaska DOT&PF's maintenance managers and foremen, stationed in remote locations throughout the interior, began implementing emergency procedures. Station foreman performed Level I inspections and reported their findings to the Fairbanks office. A Level I inspection consists of a visual check of roads, bridges, and airports, looking for any signs of deformation or obstruction, such as settlement, crevices, cracks, or slides.

The maintenance crews literally responded within minutes--identifying highway, airport, and bridge damage and, in many cases, performing temporary repairs on the spot. The Alaska DOT&PF attributes the rapid response to the decentralized nature of its regional organization. Station foremen were able to complete this task within 24 hours of the earthquake, driving hundreds of miles over four of Alaska's most important roadways.

The initial inspections revealed that the earthquake damaged eight of Alaska's roads, including four of the State's major highways. They included the connectors between Alaska's two largest cities, Anchorage and Fairbanks, and the only route leading out of the State to Canada and the lower 48. Two of the highways--the George Parks and the Alaska Highway--sustained limited damage. But two other major roads--the Richardson Highway and the Tok Cutoff--were impassable for many miles.

Reopening the Richardson

The Richardson, Alaska's first highway, stretches 589 kilometers (366 miles) from Valdez to Fairbanks. Well-traveled, the highway is a particularly critical road to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, owners and operators of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, since the pipeline follows the route for most of its length. The Denali Fault crosses underneath the Richardson Highway to the east of the earthquake epicenter. The quake damaged more than 32 kilometers (20 miles) of the roadbed.

Alyeska shut down the pipeline as a precautionary measure. The earthquake shifted the road sideways by 2.4 meters (8 feet) at the fault line, caused rockfalls along extended sections, and left cracks up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) wide across both lanes and as deep as 2.4 meters (8 feet). Alaska DOT&PF closed the road and began temporary repairs within the hour.

Working into Sunday night, Alaska's maintenance crews cleared the road of debris, removed broken asphalt, and filled ha cracks. This quick action by Alaska DOT&PF enabled Alyeska to enter the area to check the pipeline and bring in equipment to repair structural damage. The oil that flows through this pipeline for the Port of Valdez delivers 17 percent of the Nation's domestic oil supply.