The care of the sick and injured on wildland fire incidents has expanded over the last 30 years. The mission of Medical Units on wildland fire incidents has evolved into a complex service which provides: (1) stabilization and emergency medical treatment of incident personnel, and (2) occupational health and preventative measures for incident personnel to remain safe and healthy. Wildland firefighting operations require a unique array of services due to the remoteness, terrain, and complexity of utilizing multiple agencies. Medical support is essential because of the inherent risks and exposures associated with these events. The issues of standard of care and legal licensure of providers come into play when emergency medical providers from other jurisdictions cross state lines or other geopolitical boundaries to provide medical care. These situations are further complicated in areas where medical control is sometimes nonexistent or the capabilities of nearby medical facilities may be limited, including the variability of local emergency medical services agency capacities. This document introduces stakeholders to the minimum standards developed by the Incident Emergency Medical Task Group (IEMTG) when a Medical Unit has been established by a National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) member agency. This document is intended to provide direction regarding medical personnel and equipment assigned to the Medical Unit. The IEMTG recognizes the National EMS Scope of Practice Model as the baseline standard for emergency medical service providers. Therefore, a key component of the minimum standards addresses the recognition of local, state, federal, and tribal jurisdictional authorities and the integration of medical services. Overall, the minimum standards seek to ensure that incident personnel receive quality, timely medical care on wildland fire incidents, which often occur in remote areas.

In 1973, the presidentially appointed National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control published America Burning, its landmark report on the nation's fire problem. The report presented 90 recommendations for a fire-safe America. For the past 15 years, America Burning has served as a road map, guiding the fire service and the federal fire programs toward the goal of improving fire safety in the United States. The original America Burning report made 90 recommendations in 18 chapters in the following general subject areas: the nation's fire problem; the fire services; fire and the built environment; fire and the rural wildlands environment; fire prevention; and a program for the future. While much of the report and its recommendations remained valid and relevant, it was time to take a second look at America Burning and re-examine the progress made toward the goals and objectives stated in the report. Perhaps more importantly, it was time to make new recommendations that would reflect the changes in our society and environment since 1973, but still move toward a more fire-safe America. As a result, the conference on 'America Burning Revisited" was convened in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., from November 30 to December 2, 1987. "America Burning Revisited" had a threefold purpose. First, conference participants were to reach a consensus about the status of, and trends in, America's fire problem. Second, they were to revisit America Burning by reviewing and evaluating the progress toward the report's 90 recommendations. Finally, the conference participants were to recommend guidelines for local, state and federal efforts to reduce the life and property loss from fire. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) planned to use the results of this conference as the basis for establishing its program priorities for future activities. This meant that the fire protection leaders participating in "America Burning Revisited" were to have the opportunity to map out the future course of fire safety in this country.

The purpose of this U.S. Fire Administration special report is to document the problem of older chil-dren who set fires resulting in serious or potentially serious consequences. The report also examines the factors that commonly are associated with intentional firesetting by teenagers and discusses a number of community programs that intervene to control arson. Historically, the term "juvenile firesetting" has been viewed as a "curious" kids' problem. Fires set by youngsters playing with matches and lighters tend to be categorized as "accidental" or "children playing." However, juvenile firesetting also includes the deliberate destruction of property by juveniles through fire, which sometimes results in casualties. This is an increasingly serious problem in most U.S. cities. Information from a 10-year U.S. Fire Administration project of direct technical assistance to over 60 jurisdictions verifies the high rate of juvenile-set fires. This report focuses on adolescent firesetters between 14 and 18 years of age. Several case studies are presented to demonstrate the impact of these arson fires and to outline the family circumstances of the youth who were involved. The report also covers how the criminal justice system has been handling teen arson and reviews and compares several treatment and intervention programs.

David Alexander provides a concise yet comprehensive and systematic primer on how to prepare for a disaster. The book introduces the methods, procedures, protocols and strategies of emergency planning, with an emphasis on situations within industrialized countries. It is designed to be a reference source and manual from which emergency mangers can extract ideas, suggestions and pro-forma methodologies to help them design and implement emergency plans.

Prepper's Pantry: A Survival Food Guide is an excellent resource and foundational guide that covers many topics of food preparation. Especially helpful for the seeker and the new-to-prepping, there are also many great ideas for even the seasoned prepper. The reasons why you prep really don't matter. What matters is how long you're prepping for, and the means you go about doing it. This guide will show you how to determine your food needs, no matter how long you will be prepping for, and will discuss various methods of obtaining and storing food stockpiles. With the Prepper's Pantry, you'll learn the following: - Discover how much is enough when prepping for survival - more or less than you think? - Learn which foods store well, which you should avoid and why you shouldn't follow someone else's disaster preparedness plan. - Consider commercial versus home prepared food storage techniques and devise your own best strategy. - Understand the what, where when and how of food storage basics and self sufficiency. You'll learn all of this, and so much more, with Prepper's Pantry: A Survival Food Guide

Many people put the advocates of emergency preparedness into the "fringe lunatic" category, associating them with everything from domestic terrorists to religious fanatics. That is not a correct assumption. Emergency preparedness actually means that someone is prepared to meet all kinds of emergencies from sudden unemployment to the arrival of a hurricane. It also covers a wide variety of levels of preparation from a minimal 72 hour preparedness to those who are prepared for a full year of adversity. It isn't easy to be prepared for anything and everything a family might encounter in terms of adversity and emergencies. Being Prepared Without Being A Kook is your handbook to getting started down the emergency preparedness path without feeling like you have signed up for a crash course in how to join the fringe lunatic with easy to follow instructions on figuring out what you really need and why.

Legal governance of disaster brings both care and punishment to the upending of daily life of place-based disasters. National states use disasters to reorganize how they govern. This collection considers how law is implicated in disaster. The late modern expectation that states are to care for their population makes it particularly important to point out the limits to care-limits that appear less in the grand rhetoric than in the government reports, case-level decisionmaking, administrative rules, and criminalization that make up governing. These insightful essays feature leading scholars whose perspectives range across disasters around the world. Their findings point to reconsidering what states do in disaster, and how law enables and constrains action. The chapters are:

Introduction (Susan Sterett) 1 Uncertain Governance and Resilient Subjects in the Risk Society (Pat O'Malley) 2 Land Use Planning and Disaster: A European Perspective from Spain (Juli Ponce) 3 Law, State and the Politics of Catastrophes: A Critical Perspective on Epiphanies of Injustice and the Need for Protection (Valerio Nitrato Izzo) 4 The Comparative Jurisprudence of Wildfire Mitigation: Moral Community, Political Culture, and Policy Learning (Lloyd Burton) 5 Transboundary Impacts of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake Disaster: Focus on Legal Dilemmas in South Florida (Alka Sapat & Ann-Margaret Esnard) 6 Disaster Mythology and Availability Cascades (Lisa Grow Sun) 7 The Role of Law in Engineering "Natural" Disasters (Arthur F. McEvoy) 8 Multi-level Governance in Environmental Risk Management (Petra Hiller) 9 Internal Environmental Displacement: A Growing Challenge to the U.S. Welfare State (Michelle A. Meyer) 10 Long Term Recovery in Disaster Response and the Role of Non-Profits (Victor B. Flatt & Jeffrey J. Stys) 11 Disasters, Focusing Events, and Sociolegal Studies (Thomas A. Birkland)

The authors analyze sociological and legal issues surrounding disasters and catastrophic events in their many forms: natural, man-made, environmental, human, local, and global. The project was developed as part of the the Onati Socio-legal Series supported by the Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, and is now presented by Quid Pro Books in the "Contemporary Society Series."

In 2004, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worked in partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) to revise the 1998 text, Retention and Recruitment in the Volunteer Fire Service: Problems and Solutions. The original text was based on a series of workshops bringing together volunteer fire service members from all the States. This edition has been enhanced with new research and current issues as the emergency services enter the 21st century. Many of the original reasons for the recruitment problems remain: lack of time, apathy, and excessive requirements. However, they appear to have become even greater issues with the passing of time. Although the recruitment and retention challenges continue to grow, some volunteer organizations maintain good membership while others continue to function with reduced numbers. Those organizations that seek solutions and adapt to our changing personnel environment are successful. Individuals are still willing to give their time to volunteer emergency services organizations provided the following: The experience is rewarding and worth their time; The training requirements are not excessive; The time demands are adaptable and manageable; They are rewarded with a personal sense of value; There is good leadership minimizing conflict; There is ample support for the organization. The emergency services are the most demanding of volunteer activities today. The physical and time demands associated with training; responding to incidents; maintaining facilities, apparatus, and equipment; fundraising; and administering a nonprofit corporation are grueling if not managed properly. In today's hectic world, strong leadership is required to make the emergency services the organizations that will attract volunteers. This text will cover many of the problems of recruitment and retention and provide some examples of solutions that have worked in volunteer organizations across the Nation.

On September 5, 1996, Hurricane Fran made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina and generated considerable rainfall, moderately high winds, and storm surge and waves along the cost. Although the storm generated high winds along the coast and well inland, severe damage to buildings was concentrated in those areas also impacted by the flood surge and waves. This report focuses on the damage along the North Carolina coast that resulted from flood surge, wave action, erosion, and scour. On September 12, 1996, the Mitigation Directorate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deployed a Building Performance Assessment Team (BPAT) to coastal North Carolina to assess damage caused by Hurricane Fran. The mission of the BPAT was to assess the performance of buildings on the barrier islands most directly affected by Hurricane Fran and to make recommendations for improving building performance in future events. Better performance of building systems can be expected when the causes of observed failures are determined and repair and construction are undertaken in accordance with recognized standards of design and construction. The immediate goal of the BPAT process is to provide guidance to State and local governments for post-hurricane reconstruction. In addition, the BPAT's findings can enhance future coastal design and construction. The BPAT developed recommendations for reducing future hurricane damage. The recommendations address areas of concern such as building materials, design practices, construction techniques, and quality of construction. The recommendations presented in this report are applicable in other communities that experience similar coastal flooding. This report presents the BPAT's observations of the successes and failures of buildings that experienced the flood effects of Hurricane Fran, comments on building failure modes, and provides recommendations intended to enhance the performance of buildings in future hurricanes.

A salute to life is a commemorative book honoring the thousands of lives that were, and continue to be, impacted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Last year, Off the Grid News put out their first volume of The Big Book of Off the Grid Secrets and it was a wonderful success. As our readers know, Off the Grid News has been leading the way in hard-hitting news, practical help, and time-saving tips for getting "off the grid." Daily articles in their newsletter and on their website run the gamut from gardening to hunting, from alternative energy to bartering, from homesteading to self-defense, and from faith to politics. Now they're bringing you the The Big Book of Off the Grid Secrets, Volume 2, filled with fifty of the most-read and informative articles from 2012. Readers will find information on gardening, food storage and preparation, health, do-it-yourself, survival, self-defense, energy, and precious metals. In addition, they've included the transcripts from their ten most popular radio shows from 2012, which includes the police state, preparing to live on nothing at all, corruption in America, the John Birch Society, and Red diaper babies. Readers won't find this much information in one book anywhere else. If readers are really interested in being "off the grid," then this compilation will only be an added value in their preparation library.

If you've been told it's too late to start prepping ... If you've been told it's too expensive to start prepping ... If you think most prepping guides are too complicated ... If you have little ones, not just yourself to think of ... If you think most preppers seem, well-a little obsessive ... THIS is the prepping guide for you PREPPER PARENTS is a brief, easy-to-understand guide designed to walk you through preparedness for everything from short-term natural disasters to long-term economic collapse. This guide uses flagged action items as well as common sense tips to help you decide on a plan for you and your family. You'll see checklists to follow for getting a bug-out bag stocked on a budget, defense, heat and shelter, medical and dental supplies, personal hygiene, finance and bartering and much more Chapters on food and water will teach you quickly how to achieve a clean, drinkable water supply and which food items taste best, carry lightest and store longest. Filled with special ideas for parents with children, this guide is your starting place for common sense readiness.

Preparedness is the shared responsibility of all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, and individual citizens. Individuals and households are at the core of our Nation's preparedness. A community's ability to respond to or recover from a disaster depends on the level of preparedness of every member. However, a 2009 Citizen Corps National Survey found that 29 percent of Americans have not prepared because they think that emergency responders will help them and that over 60 percent expect to rely on emergency responders in the first 72 hours following a disaster. The reality is that in a complex disaster, first responders and emergency workers may not be able to reach everyone right away. In addition, providers may not be able to restore critical services, such as power, immediately. The purpose of this initiative is to promote personal and community preparedness through engaging activities for individuals, neighbors, or households. These activities are a set of building blocks. You can mix and match the activities based on the needs of your target audience or time available. Most activities can be completed during a 15-minute to 60-minute session. You should adapt the materials to include critical local information, such as information on local hazards, local alerts and warnings, and local community response resources and protocols. Remember, preparedness does not have to be complex or overly time consuming. Rather, it should motivate, empower, and engage the whole community.

There's no doubt that Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating weather events to hit the United States-costing lives, property, and prosperity. In "Catastrophic Gumbo, " author Alvin JacQues provides a firsthand look at the facts, drama, details, and aftermath of this powerful storm. A survivor of Hurricane Katrina, JacQues considers himself lucky to be alive, and he credits his strong faith in God for both his survival and the opportunity to tell his story. In this memoir, he examines the enormous devastation and causalities and tells a heroic tale of survival. "Catastrophic Gumbo" includes more than thirty stories that describe what really happened during this natural disaster-including his rescue by the Coast Guard, his experience of six days of chaos at the Superdome, the drowning of his mother, the ever-present death and destruction that he witnessed, and the corruption of the New Orleans Police Department. A compelling account, "Catastrophic Gumbo" gives a behind-the-scenes and personal look at the before, during, and after of this tragedy that hit Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in 2005.

From avalanches to volcanoes, and from the Gulf Oil Spill to bridge collapses, author Alvin JacQues explores the fascinating world of disasters-both manmade and natural. Inspired by his survival of Hurricane Katrina, chronicled in his first book "Catastrophic Gumbo, " JacQues delivers a compilation of facts and commentary on a number of global natural and manmade disasters, both historical and more recent, that have impacted the human race. Gathered from more than sixty locations, JacQues details the mayhem caused by a range of events that include an F5 tornado in Oklahoma, a typhoon in China, a blizzard in the United States, the flood of 1889, the sinking of the Titanic, and the crash of Flight 111. A compelling collection of stories, "Catastrophic Companions" narrates the reality of extreme events and communicates not only the power of Mother Nature, but of the perseverance of the human race to endure these tragedies for which often there is no preparation.

On the evening of September 21, 1998, Hurricane Georges made landfall on Puerto Rico's east coast as a strong Category 2 hurricane. It traveled directly over the interior of the island, mainly in an east-west direction, and passed off Puerto Rico's west coast on September 22. Puerto Rico had not experienced a hurricane of this magnitude since Hurricane Hugo, a devastating Category 3 hurricane that passed over the northeast corner of Puerto Rico in a southeast to northwest direction in September 1989. On September 30, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Mitigation Directorate deployed a Building Performance Assessment Team (BPAT) to Puerto Rico to assess damages caused by Hurricane Georges. The team included architects, engineers, planners, insurance specialists, and floodplain management specialists. The BPAT's mission was to assess the performance of buildings and other structures throughout Puerto Rico and make recommendations for improving building performance in future events. After an aerial assessment of the island, the BPAT conducted field investigations in selected areas affected by the storm. The field investigations of significantly damaged areas centered on the performance of single-family residential home construction. Isolated examples of success and failure in commercial buildings (primarily building envelope issues in high-rise buildings) and several essential facilities observed during field investigations were also documented. Commercial buildings were not investigated for compliance with current structural seismic guidelines. One- and two-family residential buildings, however, were investigated for their ability to sustain a seismic event. Seismic resistance of nonstructural elements was also observed. It is important to note that wind speeds experienced on the island were not of the strength to test the design of Puerto Rico's buildings. A more significant wind event striking Puerto Rico would likely have resulted in even more failures than were observed. A large number of residential buildings in Puerto Rico experienced structural damage from the high winds of Hurricane Georges. The BPAT concluded that while not all of the damage caused by Hurricane Georges could have been prevented, a significant amount could have been avoided if more buildings had been constructed to Puerto Rico's existing Planning Regulation 7 (building code). Additional damage could have been avoided if more buildings had been designed and constructed to current codes and regulations that address flood, wind, and seismic loads. Although the BPAT observed several examples of successful mitigation implementation, many buildings unfortunately received too little attention to mitigation. If effective mitigation efforts had been implemented more extensively in the design and construction of buildings, the widespread devastation of the hurricane would have been substantially reduced.

This volume of selected readings and the handbook it accompanies have been developed to provide participants in the building process at the local, state, and regional levels with the information they need to adequately address the potential effects on their communities of using new or improved seismic safety design provisions in the development of regulations for new buildings. It represents one product of an ongoing program conducted by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A brief description of this program is presented below so that readers of the handbook and these selected readings can approach their use with a fuller understanding of their purpose and limitations. In the chapters included in the handbook: The potential impacts identified by the committee are described. Information sources and data bases that may be able to provide communities with general as well as specific information and guidance are listed. General terms related to earthquakes are defined and the modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) scale and the Richter magnitude scale are described. In this accompanying volume of selected readings, the committee has assembled a series of papers that address various aspects of the seismic safety issue. A number of these papers were prepared specifically for the BSSC study and several were presented at the BSSC committee meetings with building process participants. Several other papers were originally presented at a 1984 FEMA workshop but were not published. Included are: An estimate of the impact of the NEHRP Recommended Provisions on design and construction costs developed for the BSSC study; Descriptions of the seismic hazard in various areas of the United States developed for the BSSC study; Explanations of seismic safety codes; Descriptions of current seismic hazard mitigation practices and programs; A description of recent seismic safety policy research developed for the BSSC study; A summary of the BSSC committee meetings with building process participants in Charleston, Memphis, St. Louis, and Seattle; A relatively extensive set of references.

Lifeline is an earthquake engineering term denoting those systems necessary for human life and urban function, without which large urban regions cannot exist. Lifelines basically convey food, water, fuel, energy, information, and other materials necessary for human existence from the production areas to the consuming urban areas. Prolonged disruption of lifelines such as the water supply or electric power for a city or urbanized region would inevitably lead to major economic losses, deteriorated public health, and eventually population migration. Earthquakes are probably the most likely natural disaster that would lead to major lifeline disruption. With the advent of more and more advanced technology, the United States has increasingly become dependent on the reliable provision of lifeline related commodities, such as electric power, fuel, and water. A natural question is: What is the potential for major disruption to these lifelines, especially at the regional level? The initiation of this study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is based in part on a need to better understand the impact of disruption of lifelines, from earthquakes and to assist in the identification and prioritization of hazard mitigation measures and policies. In addition, the report is intended to improve national awareness of the importance of protecting lifeline systems from earthquakes, and of assuring lifeline reliability and continued serviceability. The specific contractual requirements of this project and report are: To assess the extent and distribution of existing U.S. lifelines, and their associated seismic risk; and To identify the most critical lifelines, and develop a prioritized series of steps for reduction of lifeline seismic vulnerability, based on overall benefit. FEMA is also sponsoring a companion study to develop and demonstrate a model methodology for assessing the seismic vulnerability and impact of disruption of water transmission and distribution systems. In this initial study, lifelines of critical importance at the U.S. national level have been analyzed to estimate overall seismic vulnerability and to identify those lifelines having the greatest economic impact, given large, credible U. S. earthquakes. The lifelines examined include electric systems; water, gas, and oil pipelines; highways and bridges; airports; railroads; ports; and emergency service facilities. The vulnerability estimates and impacts developed are presented in terms of estimated direct damage losses and indirect economic losses. These losses are considered to represent a first approximation because of the assumptions and methodology utilized, because several lifelines are not included, and because, in some cases, the available lifeline inventory data lack critical capacity information.

This book provides background information and educational materials to help state officials promote the adoption and enforcement of state and local model building codes that contain the latest seismic provisions. These codes can reduce the damage that will inevitably occur when future earthquakes strike at-risk parts of the country. This book is intended for state officials, especially for earthquake program managers and hazard mitigation officers in the emergency management agencies of the states and territories prone to earthquakes. It is designed to help you convince your state and local governments that codes are effective, inexpensive, and a good investment for the future of our communities. Chapters 2 and 3 of this book contain background material on the purpose, function, and effectiveness of building codes in general and seismic codes in particular. Chapters 3,4, and 5 describe step-by-step processes for adopting state or local codes and for administering codes. Several appendices contain: the history and principles of seismic design, current seismic design practices in the United States, examples of state building code requirements, examples of state legislation, examples of local code Administration, the services of the three model code organizations in the United States, sources of further information and addresses, recommended readings, educational material for making local presentations, sample press releases for the media, sample brochures aimed at local audiences, a glossary of relevant terms.

This publication was equally funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which leads the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) and by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is responsible for the implementation portion of the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP). This project was originally undertaken to address the need for guidance on how to build a structure that would be capable of resisting the extreme forces of both a tsunami and an earthquake. This question was driven by the fact that there are many communities along our nation's west coast that are vulnerable to a tsunami triggered by an earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone, which could potentially generate a tsunami of 20 feet in elevation or more within 20 minutes. Given their location, it would be impossible to evacuate these communities in time, which could result in a significant loss of life. This issue came into sharp relief with the December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami. While this event resulted in a tremendous loss of life, this would have been even worse had not many people been able to take shelter in multi-story reinforced concrete buildings. Without realizing it, these survivors were among the first to demonstrate the concept of vertical evacuation from a tsunami. Many coastal communities subject to tsunami located in other parts of the country also have the same issue. In these cases, the only feasible alternative is vertical evacuation, using specially designed, constructed and designated structures built to resist both tsunami and earthquake loads. The design of such structures was the focus of the earlier work on this project, which resulted in the FEMA publication, Guidelines for Design of Structures for Vertical Evacuation from Tsunamis (FEMA P646). This is a companion publication intended to present information on how vertical evacuation design guidance can be used and encouraged at the state and local level. It is meant to help state and local government officials and interested citizens by providing them with the information they would need to address the tsunami hazard in their community, to help determine if vertical evacuation is an option they should consider, and if so, how to fund, design and build such a refuge.

Earthquakes represent an enormous threat to the Nation. Although damaging earthquakes occur infrequently, their consequences can be staggering. As recent earthquakes around the world have demonstrated, high population densities and development pressures, particularly in urban areas, are increasingly vulnerable. Unacceptably high loss of life and enormous economic consequences are associated with recent global earthquakes, and it is only a matter of time before the United States faces a similar experience. Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but their impacts can be managed to a large degree so that loss to life and property can be reduced. To this end, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) seeks to mitigate earthquake losses in the U.S. through both basic and directed research and implementation activities in the fields of earthquake science and engineering. This program is authorized and funded by Congress and is managed as a collaborative effort among the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). These four Federal organizations work in close coordination to improve the Nation's understanding of earthquake hazards and to mitigate their effects. The missions of the four agencies are complementary: FEMA, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, works with states, local governments, and the public to develop tools and improve policies and practices that reduce earthquake losses; NIST enables technology innovation in earthquake engineering by working with industry to remove technical barriers, evaluate advanced technologies, and develop the measurement and prediction tools underpinning performance standards for buildings and lifelines; NSF strives to advance fundamental knowledge in earthquake engineering, earth science processes, and societal preparedness and response to earthquakes; and USGS monitors earthquakes, assesses seismic hazard for the Nation, and researches the basic earth science processes controlling earthquake occurrence and effects. Mindful of the increasing threat posed by earthquakes, NEHRP initiated a review of the scientific goals and strategies of the Program and a discussion of the opportunities and priorities for the five-year interval 2001-2005. This review and discussion culminated in the new strategic plan presented here. Shaping the plan are four goals that represent the continuum of activities in the Program, ranging from research and development to application and implementation. These four goals are as follows: A. Develop effective practices and policies for earthquake loss-reduction and accelerate their implementation. B. Improve techniques to reduce seismic vulnerability of facilities and systems. C. Improve seismic hazard identification and risk assessment methods and their use. D. Improve the understanding of earthquakes and their effects.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, works to reduce the ever-increasing cost that disasters inflict on the nation. Preventing losses before they occur by designing and constructing buildings and their components to withstand anticipated forces from various hazards is one of the key components of mitigation and is one of the most effective ways of reducing the cost of future disasters. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) is the federal program established to address the nation's earthquake threat. NEHRP seeks to resolve two basic issues: how will earthquakes affect us and how do we best apply our resources to reduce their impact on our nation. The program was established by Congress under the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-124) and was the result of years of examination of the earthquake hazard and possible mitigation measures. Under the NEHRP, FEMA is responsible for supporting program implementation activities, including the development, publication, and dissemination of technical design and construction guidance documents. Generally, there has not been much technical guidance addressing residential buildings unless they are located in areas of high seismicity or exceed a certain size or height. This is because most residential buildings were thought to perform fairly well in earthquakes due to their low mass and simple construction. While buildings may not normally experience catastrophic collapse, they can still suffer significant amounts of damage, rendering them uninhabitable. This is especially true when construction techniques are less than adequate. What is particularly important from FEMA's point of view is that, given the sheer number of this type of building, even minor damage represents a significant loss potential and temporary housing demand that will need to be addressed after an earthquake by all levels of government. This guide provides information on current best practices for earthquake-resistant house design and construction for use by builders, designers, code enforcement personnel, and potential homeowners. It incorporates lessons learned from the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes as well as knowledge gained from the FEMA-funded CUREE-Caltech Woodframe Project. It also introduces and explains the effects of earthquake loads on one- and two-family detached houses and identifies the requirements of the 2003 International Residential Code (IRC) intended to resist these loads. The stated purpose of the IRC is to provide: ..". minimum requirements to safeguard the public safety, health, and general welfare, through affordability, structural strength, means of egress facilities, stability, sanitation, light and ventilation, energy conservation and safety to life and property from fire and other hazards attributed to the built environment." Because the building code requirements are minimums, a house and its contents still may be damaged in an earthquake even if it was designed and built to comply with the code. Research has shown, however, that earthquake damage to a house can be reduced for a relatively small increase in construction cost. This guide identifies above-code techniques for improving earthquake performance and presents an estimate of their cost. Note that the information presented in this guide is not intended to replace the IRC or any applicable state or local building code, and the reader is urged to consult with the local building department before applying any of the guidance presented in this document. The information presented in this guide applies only to one- and two-family detached houses constructed using the nonengineered prescriptive construction provisions of the IRC. Applicable IRC limits on building configuration and construction are described.

Early on the morning of 4th September 2010, a series of seismic events began to unfold in Christchurch, New Zealand. They would eventually take 185 lives and directly affect hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. This book is a compilation of stories from some of these people. Preschoolers, teenagers, families, and retirees tell of the impact of the ongoing earthquakes and aftershocks, the emotional and physical toll they exacted, and their hope for a new Christchurch. They reflect the incredible resilience the people of Canterbury have shown throughout this devastating time. Some of the stories are poignant, some humorous, some shocking and some sad. All of them are from the heart and deserve to be heard. Magnitude 7.1 & 6.3 was put together by Debbie Roome who is an award-winning novelist and freelance writer with 25 years experience.