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• Mitigation for Schools and School Districts

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  From the Document: "School preparedness is strengthened by prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery activities. […] This fact sheet describes what mitigation is, how mitigation is connected to the other preparedness missions, what mitigation efforts planning teams may want to consider, and how mitigation activities can be integrated into planning efforts; additional resources are provided, as well. Ideally, schools (public or nonpublic) or school districts will stop emergencies from occurring in the first place. For example, violence can be prevented through the implementation of bullying and hazing prevention programs. However, some incidents cannot be prevented, such as an earthquake that impacts the whole community. Therefore, planning teams need to identify how to eliminate or reduce the impact from (or mitigate) these threats and hazards."

  Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center (U.S.)

  2017-10-12?
• National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief [October 12, 2017]

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  "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. Better coordination was a concern that led to changes to the program in legislation enacted in 2004 [...]. [...] Although authorization for appropriations expired in 2009, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for NEHRP activities. [...] The budget request for FY2018 would reduce total funding for NEHRP activities to $124.1 million, a decrease of about 8% compared to FY2017. Legislation introduced in the 115th Congress, S. 1768 (the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2017), largely would leave the current four-agency NEHRP program intact, while providing some new areas of emphasis and omitting specific authorization of appropriations levels for the member agencies. The bill, introduced on September 6, 2017, would emphasize activities to promote greater resilience to earthquakes and activities that would enhance the effectiveness of an earthquake early warning system, among other changes. S. 1768 would remove statutory language referring to an original purpose of the program to seek a capability to predict earthquakes."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Folger, Peter (Peter Franklin)

  2017-10-12
• EPA's Role in Emergency Planning and Notification at Chemical Facilities [September 18, 2017]

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  "Chemicals and the facilities that manufacture, store, distribute, and use them are essential to the U.S. economy. However, incidents occasioned by natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, floods), unintentional events (e.g., fire, accidents), or security threats (e.g., terrorism) show that the handling and storage of chemicals are not without risk. Incidents such as the 2017 fire at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, the 2013 explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, and the 1984 release of methyl isocyanate at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, have motivated many in federal, state, and local governments to back efforts to reduce the risk of chemical accidents in the United States."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Lattanzio, Richard K.; Bearden, David M.

  2017-09-18
• Effectiveness of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

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  "The Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR) was established in 2004 as part of the reauthorization of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) (Public Law 108-360). ACEHR's members are non-Federal employees serving three-year terms from research and academic institutions, earthquake-related professions, and state and local governments. We are charged with assessing trends and developments in the science and engineering of earthquake hazards reduction; the effectiveness of NEHRP in performing its statutory activities and any need to revise NEHRP; and the management, coordination, implementation, and activities of NEHRP. This report is provided to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who serves as the Director of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (referred to in this report as the 'ICC')2. Its recommendations are also directed to the NEHRP Secretariat and the four NEHRP agencies--the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), NIST, National Science Foundation (NSF), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The report is structured to reflect on the Program's achievements and challenges since its inception in 1977, new trends and developments in the science and engineering of earthquake hazards reduction, and concerns about the future of NEHRP. Two critical and overarching needs for NEHRP's future are then discussed, followed by a series of programmatic and agency-specific assessments and recommendations."

  National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (U.S.)

  2017-09-11
• Disaster Debris Management: Requirements, Challenges, and Federal Agency Roles [September 06, 2017]

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  "Every year, disasters such as wildfires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and winter storms affect American communities. In the aftermath of a major disaster, a potential threat to safety and obstacle to recovery is the presence of significant amounts of disaster debris. Depending on the type of disaster, debris may include waste soils and sediments; trees, limbs, and shrubs; man-made structures (e.g., collapsed homes, buildings, or bridges); and personal property. Residents' ability to return to the area and live in a safe and healthy environment may depend on how quickly and effectively a community manages its debris. To avoid overburdening existing landfill space, many communities attempt to divert as much debris as possible from area landfills through recycling, burning, composting, or another method of volume reduction. The logistics of such diversion can prove complicated without proper predisaster planning."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Luther, Linda G.

  2017-09-06
• U.S. Tsunami Program Reauthorization in P.L. 115-25: Section-by-Section Comparison to P.L. 109-479, Title VIII [May 3, 2017]

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  "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Weather Service (NWS) manages two tsunami warning centers, which monitor, detect, and issue warnings for tsunamis. The NWS operates the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) at Ford Island, HI, and the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) at Palmer, AK. The tsunami warning centers monitor and evaluate data from seismic networks and determine if a tsunami is likely based on the location, magnitude, and depth of an earthquake. The centers monitor relevant water-level data, typically with tide-level gauges, and data from NOAA's network of Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) detection buoys to confirm that a tsunami has been generated or to cancel any warnings if no tsunami is detected. In the 114th Congress, the House passed legislation amending U.S. tsunami activities (H.R. 34) and the Senate passed similar legislation (Title V of H.R. 1561). However, the 114th Congress did not enact a final version of the legislation. [...] This report compares the enacted legislation text with P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, section by section, with brief comments on selected comparisons about how changes in P.L. 115-25, Title V, affect P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, and the authorized tsunami activities."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Folger, Peter (Peter Franklin)

  2017-05-03
• EMR-ISAC: InfoGram, Volume 17 Issue 17 [April 27, 2017]

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  The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center's (EMR-ISAC) InfoGram is a weekly publication of information concerning the protection of critical infrastructures relevant to members of the Emergency Services Sector. This issue includes the following articles: "Mutual Aid Resource Planner," "Helping Workplaces Prepare for Earthquakes," "Saving Heirlooms and Heritage After a Disaster," and "National Volunteer Week Focus on Recruitment."

  Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (U.S.)

  2017-04-27
• Hazus Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the United States, April 2017

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  "Large earthquakes can cause social and economic disruption that can be unprecedented to any given community, and the full recovery from these impacts may or may not always be achievable. In the United States (U.S.), the 1994 M6.7 Northridge earthquake in California remains the third costliest disaster in U.S. history; and it was one of the most expensive disasters for the federal government. Internationally, earthquakes in the last decade alone have claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic impact throughout the globe (~90 billion U.S. dollars (USD) from 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan China, ~20 billion USD from 2010 M8.8 Maule earthquake in Chile, ~220 billion USD from 2011 M9.0 Tohoku Japan earthquake, ~25 billion USD from 2011 M6.3 Christchurch New Zealand, and ~22 billion USD from 2016 M7.0 Kumamoto Japan). Recent earthquakes show a pattern of steadily increasing damages and losses that are primarily due to three key factors: (1) significant growth in earthquake-prone urban areas, (2) vulnerability of the older building stock, including poorly engineered non-ductile concrete buildings, and (3) an increased interdependency in terms of supply and demand for the businesses that operate among different parts of the world. In the United States, earthquake risk continues to grow with increased exposure of population and development even though the earthquake hazard has remained relatively stable except for the regions of induced seismic activity. Understanding the seismic hazard requires studying earthquake characteristics and locales in which they occur, while understanding the risk requires an assessment of the potential damage from earthquake shaking to the built environment and to the welfare of people--especially in high-risk areas."

  United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; Geological Survey (U.S.); National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (U.S.)

  2017-04
• Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: H.R. 654: Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2017

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  "H.R. 654 would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop a plan to purchase and install an early warning system for earthquakes in the Cascadia Subduction Zone (a fault line that spans parts of California and all of Oregon andWashington State). FEMA would be required to submit this plan to the Congress as well asan additional report summarizing the plan's implementation within one year of the bill'senactment. The bill would not require FEMA to implement the plan nor would it authorizethe appropriation of funds to do so. H.R. 654 also would direct the President to establish anearthquake and tsunami task force, for which the FEMA Administrator would be the chair,to develop and submit to the Congress a strategy and recommendations for preparing for,mitigating against, responding to, and recovering from an earthquake or tsunami in theCascadia Subduction Zone. The task force would include individuals from the federal government, the Oregon, Washington, and California state governments, local governments, and private institutions."

  United States. Congressional Budget Office

  2017-03-08
• FEMA Building Science Branch: Hazard Overview: Floods

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  "Every year, natural disasters and human-made hazard events cause fatalities and injuries, and cost billions of dollars in property damage throughout the United States. Mitigation creates real value for the American people by reducing loss of life, injuries and property damage for communities who are faced with these hazards as well as by minimizing disruption and enabling faster recovery. The FEMA Building Science Branch studies these hazards and provides technical services within FEMA, to the rest of the federal government and to our private sector partners. With a focus on earthquake, wind, flood and other natural and human-made hazards, the Building Science Branch takes a lead role in developing state-of-the-art publications, guidance materials, tools, training, technical bulletins and recovery advisories that incorporate the most up-to-date building codes, flood damage resistant requirements, seismic design guidelines and wind design requirements for new and existing buildings."

  United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States. Department of Homeland Security

  2017-03
• Fire in the United States 2005-2014

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  "Fire departments in the United States responded to nearly 1.3 million fire calls in 2014. The U.S. fire problem no longer ranks as the most severe of the industrialized nations, yet thousands of Americans die each year, tens of thousands of people are injured, and property losses reach billions of dollars. There are huge indirect costs of fire as well, including temporary lodging, lost business revenues, medical expenses, psychological damage, and others. To put this in context, the annual losses from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters combined in the U.S. average just a fraction of those from fires. The public, the media and local governments are generally unaware of the magnitude and seriousness of the fire problem and how it affects individuals and their families, communities, and the nation. […] This 18th edition covers the 10-year period from 2005 to 2014, with a primary focus on 2014.3 The report addresses the overall national fire problem. Detailed analyses of the residential and nonresidential fire problem, firefighter casualties, and other subsets of the national fire problem are not included. These topic-specific analyses are addressed as separate, stand-alone publications."

  United States Fire Administration; United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency

  2017-01
• S. Hrg. 112-950: Oversight Hearing: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Preliminary Results of the Nuclear Safety Review in the United States Following the Emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant in Japan, Joint Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, June 16, 2011

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  This is the June 16, 2011 joint oversight hearing titled, "Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Preliminary Results of the Nuclear Safety Review in the United States Following the Emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant in Japan," held before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. From the opening statement of Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator from California: "It has been over 3 months since Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. It is expected to take additional time before cold shutdown of all reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power will be achieved. The emergency in Japan serves as an important wake-up call for the United States and the rest of the world. [...] [T]he NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] is taking initial steps to reevaluate current assumptions about the safety and the security of nuclear power plants in the U.S. in light of what has happened in Japan. And these are the things that I am pleased about. The NRC's inspectors have inspected and issued reports on the 105 operating nuclear reactors and their readiness to address power losses or damage following extreme events. And the NRC is in the middle of a 90-day task force review of its processes and regulations in light of the events in Japan." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Gregory B. Jaczko, Kristine L. Svinicki, George Apostolakis, William D. Magwood, and William C. Ostendorff.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2017
• Lessons from Fukushima One Year Later: NRC's Implementation of Recommendations for Enhancing Nuclear Reactor Safety in the 21st Century, Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, March 15, 2012

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  This is the March 15, 2012 joint hearing on "Lessons from Fukushima One Year Later: NRC's [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] Implementation of Recommendations for Enhancing Nuclear Reactor Safety in the 21st Century" held before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and the Committee on Environment and Public Works. From the statement of Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer: "A year ago this week in Japan, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of the Japan, triggering a tsunami that is reported to have reached up to 45 feet high and stretched up to six miles inland. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant was hit hard -- it lost power, multiple hydrogen gas explosions tore apart reactor buildings, containment structures were damaged, three nuclear reactors melted down, and radiation poured out into the environment. People's lives were uprooted by evacuations to avoid the threat of radiation poisoning. Many of these men, women, and children have yet to return to their homes -- some may never go back. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan and the victims of this catastrophe. The purpose of this hearing is to conduct oversight on the NRC's efforts to ensure that the 104 nuclear reactors in our nation are operating safely and that these plants are swiftly implementing the lessons learned from the disaster in Japan." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Gregory B. Jaczko, Kristine L. Svinicki, George Apostolakis, William D. Magwood, and William C. Ostendorff.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2017
• S. Hrg. 112-976: Oversight Hearing: NRC's Implementation of Recommendations for Enhancing Nuclear Reactor Safety in the 21st Century, Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, September 12, 2012

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  This is the September 12, 2012 joint hearing on 'NRC's Implementation of Recommendations for Enhancing Nuclear Reactor Safety in the 21st Century' before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and the Committee on Environment and Public Works. From Senator Barbara Boxer's opening statement: "Today the Environment and Public Works Committee is holding its seventh oversight meeting on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan in March 2011. The consequences of those terrible events have prompted us to rethink how to ensure safety at the 104 nuclear reactors in the United States." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Allison M. Macfarlane, Kristine L. Svinichi, and William C. Ostendorff.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2017
• Edgewater Elementary School Sample Earthquake Annex

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  From the Document: "Edgewater Elementary School is located in an area that, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has a high probability of experiencing an earthquake. In many parts of Oregon, earthquakes are a serious threat and can strike without warning. We must be prepared for an earthquake in the state, as well as one occurring offshore in the Cascadia subduction zone. If this were to occur, it could severely damage not only the school, but a lot of Oregon's infrastructure. We expect that roads could be impassible, bridges severely damaged, and utilities destroyed, and it may be weeks or months before this infrastructure is repaired. Mitigating potential hazards before an earthquake strikes, being prepared to take protective measures when the ground shakes, and preparing to meet the immediate and short-term needs of students and staff members following an earthquake are essential elements in our 'Earthquake Annex.'"

  Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center (U.S.)

  2016-12-29?
• Post-Disaster Reunification and K-12 Schools

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  "Emergencies are always local events--they affect the individuals and area immediately surrounding them. However, sometimes the scope of an emergency event expands to include entire communities and even whole regions. These large-scale disasters and catastrophic incidents (hereafter referred to as 'disasters') range from natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, mudslides, tornados, winter storms) to human-caused threats (e.g., terrorist attacks). Furthermore, these disasters present unique challenges, such as the opportunity for children to become separated from their parents or legal guardians (hereafter referred to as 'family'). Children may be alone or with someone other than their family at the time of the disaster, and can be either unintentionally separated from or abandoned by their families during or after a disaster, exposing them to such dangers as assault, abduction and exploitation. In some cases, children may be the only surviving family members in disasters involving mass casualties."

  United States. Department of Education

  2016-12-13
• EMR-ISAC: InfoGram, Volume 16 Issue 40 [October 06, 2016]

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  The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center's (EMR-ISAC) InfoGram is a weekly publication of information concerning the protection of critical infrastructures relevant to members of the Emergency Services Sector. This issue includes the following articles: "Distracted Driving's Legal Concerns for EMS," "First Responder Earthquake Risk Video," "CBRNE Emergencies Medical Management Course," and "State of 911 Webinar: Funding Challenges."

  Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (U.S.)

  2016-10-06
• Stability Operations in Haiti 2010: A Case Study

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  From the Introduction: "The stability operation in Haiti from January 14 to June 1, 2010 demonstrated how over a dozen U.S. Government departments and agencies worked together effectively in an unprecedented large-scale foreign humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (FHA/DR) effort. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, precipitated the operation. The Haiti action, known within the U.S. military as Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE, was not only a whole-of-government, but also a whole-of-nation and global undertaking. The United States played a significant role in the Haiti earthquake relief effort in collaboration with more than 140 countries and over 1,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Its objective was to alleviate human suffering in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, establish a safe and secure environment for humanitarian aid distribution, and set the conditions for a transition to a longer-term recovery effort by the Haitian Government, the United Nations (UN), and the NGOs."

  Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute

  Vialpando, Emma

  2016-10
• Human-Induced Earthquakes from Deep-Well Injection: A Brief Overview [September 30, 2016]

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  "Although only a small fraction of U.S. wastewater disposal wells appears to be problematic for causing damaging earthquakes, the potential for injection-related earthquakes has raised an array of issues and has affected oil and gas wastewater disposal in some areas. In response to induced seismicity concerns, both EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and state work groups have issued recommendations for best practices to minimize and manage such risks. Several states have increased regulation and oversight of Class II disposal wells. Congress may be interested in oversight of EPA's UIC [Underground Injection Control] Human-Induced Earthquakes from Deep-Well Injection: A Brief Overview Congressional Research Service program or in federally sponsored research on the relationship between energy development activities and induced seismicity."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Folger, Peter (Peter Franklin); Tiemann, Mary

  2016-09-30
• U.S. Response to NEOs: Avoiding a Black Swan Event

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  From the thesis abstract: "Near Earth Objects (NEOs) present one of the greatest threats to Earth, but currently there is no U.S. or international response and mitigation strategy in place for a NEO impact. This thesis examines case studies from two other high impact low probability (HILP) events--earthquakes and volcanoes--with the intent of applying lessons learned to the formulation of a NEO mitigation strategy. The case studies include domestic and international examples, offering insights into the critical areas of education and training, infrastructure, and communications. Considering the destructiveness of the threat, it would be in the best interests of global leaders to develop a NEO strategy that uses best response practices from these other events. This thesis recommends the use of an early warning system, greater involvement of leadership, and crowdsourcing ideas beyond the public sector."

  Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)

  Dixon, Candice Kiara

  2016-09
• Review of Injuries From Terrorist Bombings and Earthquakes

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  "Terrorist bombings and earthquakes provide valuable insight on the types of injuries that may occur in an improvised nuclear device (IND) scenario. Review of blast events provided information on injuries from overpressure, tumbling, debris, burn, and crush injuries. Data from eighteen case studies based on 432 bombings revealed 16,699 different injuries among 6,554 casualties. Injury types included wounds, fractures, and burns. Body areas typically involved the head and neck, extremities, and soft tissues. Glass shattering was a common source of injury. Eight earthquake case studies were reviewed with 6,775 injuries reported for 4,526 casualties. The most common types of wound and body regions include fractures, crush, and contusions and extremities, back, and hip. Earthquake injuries primarily originate from building collapse causing persons to be hit, trapped, or crushed by building parts. The report details the spectrum and quantity of injuries resulting from blast and earthquakes, thereby providing valuable information for response planning for an IND. Knowledge concerning anticipated injury types provide data for casualty estimation and help inform medical response planning and resource requirements."

  United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency; United States. Strategic Command (2002- )

  Dant, Tyler; Stricklin, Daniela; McClung, Amber . . .

  2016-08-16
• Mitigating Strategies Order (EA-12-049) Compliance Status

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  From the "Description" on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC): "On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan and was followed by a 45-foot tsunami, resulting in extensive damage to the nuclear power reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility. The NRC has taken significant action to enhance the safety of reactors in the United States based on the lessons learned from this accident. This page is intended to serve as a navigation hub to follow the NRC's progress in implementing the many different lessons-learned activities." This document examines the compliance status of U.S. reactors units in accordance with the Mitigating Strategies Order.

  U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

  2016-07-21
• San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Plan [video]

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  From the description on the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) website: "CHDS has supported FEMA and Cal OES [Office of Emergency Services] in the development of a video outlining the recently-released 2016 Bay Area Earthquake Plan. This short film is a visual introduction to the updated San Francisco Bay Area Catastrophic Earthquake Plan, which combines the talent, expertise and input from dozens of partners drawn from across the Whole Community to prepare for and recover from a major earthquake." The video is 5 minutes and 41 seconds in length.

  Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security

  2016-07-19
• SOLLIMS Sampler: Leadership in Crisis and Complex Operations

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  This is the May 2017 special edition of the Stability Operations Lessons Learned and Information Management System (SOLLIMS) Lessons Learned 'Sampler' - "Leadership in Crisis and Complex Operations." From the "'Quick Look' (Preview of the Lessons)" subject heading: "Leadership failure - by UN peacekeeping leaders with responsibility for the Malakal Protection of Civilians (POC) site, South Sudan in February 2016 - was a contributory factor to spoilers' gaining access to this UN site and the resultant deaths of civilians and destruction of property. [...] Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) actions launched in Liberia at its "golden hour" (mid-2003 to 2005) were absolutely critical for post-conflict recovery and for establishing a viable foundation for further stabilization work. [...] Certain leader attributes prominently stand out as "keys to success" - frequently cited in strategic leader assessments and lesson reports from recent peace-keeping and stability operations. Those attributes are: visioning, mapping the environment, cross-cultural savvy, interpersonal maturity, unity of effort and purpose, strategic communication, and determination toward the vision. [...] During the 2010 earthquake relief operation in Haiti, a myriad of organizations carried out disaster relief roles,… JTF-Haiti took a lead role in organizing and synchronizing a large part of subsequent (post-emergency) relief efforts through a number of innovations in partnering, coordinating, communicating, and building unity of effort among the participating organizations. [...] Leadership on UN peacekeeping missions - with troops from many different nations and cultures - presents an array of challenges for commanders, as experienced by a Polish officer assigned to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). His advice for becoming an "inter-culturally effective leader": integrate differences, bridge differences, and tolerate differences. [...] Military leaders, Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental and Multinational (JIIM) partners, as well as their staffs and subordinate leaders, must fully understand the roles, functions, goals, objectives, campaign plans, constraints, limitations, resources, caveats, timelines and priorities of each contributing organization, in order to fully establish and exploit development unified action.

  Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute

  2016-06
• FINDER: Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble and Rescuing Victims of Disasters

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  "Quickly detecting living victims buried under rubble or other debris greatly increases their chances of rescue and survival. This is especially true in situations where there are multiple rubble piles or a large extent of debris. The ability to rapidly assess whether there are live victims at a particular site allows for effective allocation of search and rescue resources and helps first responders save more lives. During these types of search and rescue scenarios, responders are looking for the 'holy grail'--a tool that will allow responders to walk down a street after an earthquake or tornado, look at a leveled building, and quickly determine whether anyone alive is trapped within the rubble. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) is developing one such technology: Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response, or FINDER."

  United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate

  2016-05-26
• Earthquake Risk and U.S. Highway Infrastructure: Frequently Asked Questions [May 19, 2016]

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  "Earthquakes and related events, such as soil liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, flooding, and fires, pose risks to highway infrastructure. Concerns about the U.S. highway system's seismic vulnerability stem from interest in protecting public safety, facilitating response and recovery efforts, and minimizing economic loss and social disruption. This report addresses a number of frequently asked questions about earthquake risk and highway system components, especially bridges."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Mallett, William; Carter, Nicole T.; Folger, Peter (Peter Franklin)

  2016-05-19
• Toward a More Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Framework for the Regulation of the Seismic Safety of Nuclear Power Plants

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  "Dozens of seismic probabilistic risk assessments (SPRAs) exist that have analyzed large nuclear power plants (NPPs). A major insight from these SPRAs is that, although generally the plants are adequately safe against earthquake threats, the way the industry and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently design, build, operate, analyze, and regulate seismic NPP safety may not be optimal. This suboptimal situation means that for both operating NPPs and new NPP designs not yet built, they may fail to take advantage of possible additional safety insights and improvements, may be more difficult to analyze and to regulate than they need to be, and may cost more than they otherwise would. There is room for improvement in several areas. The major topics covered herein are the variations in residual seismic risk from plant to plant; the unbalanced risk profiles and incomplete defense in depth achieved at many plants; the impact of structures and components being designed individually for seismic performance rather than taking a systems approach; the variations in margin that exist among the industry consensus codes and standards for seismic design and analysis; and the observation that the design codes and the NRC regulations do not work together well. Each of these topics is analyzed in detail, and case-study examples based on the seismic risk profiles of two operating plants are used to illustrate the issues. Suggestions are presented that would improve the seismic framework in each of these areas."

  U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; United States. Government Publishing Office

  Mieler, M. W. (Michael W.); Budnitz, Robert J.

  2016-05
• Geo-targeting Performance of Wireless Emergency Alerts in Imminent Threat Scenarios, Volume 2: Tsunami, Earthquake, Radiation, and Evacuation Warnings

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  "A significant challenge for emergency managers and Alert Originators (AOs) is how to warn people in danger quickly, and avoid warning people not at risk. Providing effective warning of an imminent threat, such as an earthquake or tsunami, can save lives. People can take shelter or move to higher ground if they have enough warning time. If people frequently receive irrelevant warnings, however, they may choose to ignore later warnings that do apply to them. Several terms have been coined for this ― warning fatigue and warning complacency. Over -alerting can lead to warning fatigue. Geo-targeted Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) can help reduce over -alerting and alert failures, and increase warning effectiveness. This study examines how WEAs can be used to warn the public in three potentially deadly scenarios: [1] A large destructive earthquake; [2] A Tsunami; and [3] A terrorist detonation of nuclear weapon in an urban area. This report also examines how WEAs can be used to evacuate the public from the threat area in each scenario. It e valuate s the benefits of providing advance warning of these threats and the potential performance advantages of using alternative cell antenna selection methods for geo-targeting WEA messages ."

  United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate

  Gonzales, Daniel, 1956-; Miyashiro, Lisa; Osburg, Jan . . .

  2016-05
• National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP): Issues in Brief [April 19, 2016]

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  "Under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), four federal agencies have responsibility for long-term earthquake risk reduction: the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies assess U.S. earthquake hazards, deliver notifications of seismic events, develop measures to reduce earthquake hazards, and conduct research to help reduce overall U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes. Congressional oversight of the NEHRP program encompasses how well the four agencies coordinate their activities to address the earthquake hazard. [...] The NEHRP program's effectiveness is a perennial issue for Congress; the effectiveness of mitigation measures taken before an earthquake occurs is inherently difficult to capture precisely, in terms of dollars saved or fatalities prevented. A major earthquake in a populated urban area within the United States would cause damage, and in question is how much damage would be prevented by mitigation strategies underpinned by the NEHRP program."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Folger, Peter (Peter Franklin)

  2016-04-19
• SAVER Market Survey Report: Satellite Mobile Phones [April 2016]

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  "Satellite mobile phones utilize satellites to communicate with landline, cellular, or other satellite phones in most regions of the world. Responders use satellite mobile phones for emergency communications in order to coordinate response and recovery efforts in remote areas, where there are no landline or cellular telephone networks, or in areas where existing networks are damaged or overloaded during a natural disaster (e.g., severe weather or earthquake) or a man-made incident, including potential chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive events. Satellite mobile phones can help maintain command and control functions during an emergency when existing communications networks are not functioning. These phones are designed to be relatively rugged and simple to operate, but are more expensive than cell phones to buy and use. To provide emergency responders with information on satellite mobile phones, the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) Program conducted a market survey."

  United States. Department of Homeland Security; System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER)

  2016-04