CSU Not Prepared for Earthquake | Campus News

The print version of this story incorrectly stated that Cal State Fullerton did not have volunteer building guards on staff. The article also mentioned that the audit showed that many CSU campuses weren’t prepared for an earthquake – several audits have been conducted at different universities since 2016.

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For five years, Cal State Fullerton failed to maintain a team of trained construction guards who would help evacuate campus in the event of a major earthquake. After the Daily Titan began asking questions about the lack of guards, the university sent out a campus-wide appeal asking for volunteers to be guards.

Several California State University campuses, including California State University Fullerton, failed to overhaul their emergency operations plan, according to a 2016 review by the California State University System. The university has not published any audits on the same topic since then.

The Southern California Earthquake Data Center says there is an 85% chance of a major earthquake in the next 30 years. Orange County has been hit by several large earthquakes—in the last century, all of which had their epicenter in Los Angeles County. Questions are being raised about the university’s ability to move students and faculty off buildings and off campus in the event of a major earthquake.

“Specifically, we found that the campus building management software and evacuation chairs need improvement,” according to the audit.

The audit also revealed that new hires and EOC team members did not always complete training that included emergency preparedness information, had an incomplete list of construction organization and were not adequately prepared for an earthquake.

The university is looking for volunteers for the Construction Management Program, according to a March 16 email sent by Angela North, Director of Strategic Initiatives. The email was sent after the Daily Titan requested information about a shortage of campus building guards.

However, the turnover makes it difficult to find new employees, and people are often not familiar with the position, said university police captain Scott Wylie.

“The challenge is that it needs constant maintenance because there is always staff turnover through all the colleges in any university and ours here at Cal State Fullerton is no different. So the list of people in the construction management program is constantly changing and unfortunately, we haven’t had anyone in This position has been in place since the summer of 2021,” Willie said.

Buildings constructed after the 1970s have a stricter seismic code making them stronger against earthquake damage, said Christian Kolosvari, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at CSUF.

“No building is earthquake resistant,” Kolozvari said. “In general, when it comes to earthquake safety, the newer buildings the better.”

Several buildings on campus were built before these earthquake code changes were made, including McCarthy Hall in 1963 and Langsdorf Hall in 1969.

“I think a lot of the infrastructure is very old, which is very clear,” said Kolozvary. “It can be very risky and that’s the big problem that I think the entire state of California and even the University of California system has as well.”

Kolozvari said that just because a building complies with the code, it doesn’t mean it won’t be damaged during an earthquake.

“When you talk about earthquakes and stuff, in a sense, it’s a very different ball game than a fire or something where we move people out of the building. Because with an earthquake, the building becomes part of the problem,” said Sean Walker, associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics and construction marshal at CSUF. .

According to the audit, the Emergency Operations Center did not have an adequate 72-hour supply and some expired.

Evacuation signs instruct students and faculty to go to the nearest exit. For some, this is the only information available if there is a violent earthquake on campus.

“I just saw the signs, inside the buildings, basically like a map,” said Diana David, a fourth-year student majoring in filmmaking at CSUF.

Walker said the last training he underwent was prior to COVID-19 and that the program may need some adjustments.

“I think once they get a full set of staff in there, we have an emergency manager and we’ll come back from COVID and maybe we can do the training together,” Walker said.

The program currently does not have an emergency manager. Willy said the situation organizes training and communicates with the building manager during a disaster, such as an earthquake.

“It takes a lot of planning, so even when you have a two-year gap in actual live training, it takes a full two years to plan for that, maybe not even two years, it could take a year, but it takes a year,” Willy said.

Walker said that although there is no emergency manager, the program could still benefit from filling that position.

These campus emergency operations plan errors are not exclusive to CSUF. Several other audits by CSUs have shown that universities across the state are having problems completing emergency preparedness programs.

In 1994, a magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake caused severe damage to several campus buildings at California State University at Northridge and delayed the start of the spring semester by two weeks. However, in 2019, this campus still lacked adequate resources to operate in an emergency, according to CSU.

Lisa Curtis, CSUN’s emergency director, said the audit conducted in 2020 was a real opener for her and the department.

“I would say it was more detailed in areas where we knew we were trying to overcome some hurdles — like building management staff and getting that current and trying to figure out how best to conserve currency with building management rolls,” Curtis said. .

Curtis said the campus audit also indicated that not all emergency generators were available due to their design and location on campus.

San Francisco State University was audited in 2020 and found to have significant gaps in emergency management capabilities.

According to the San Francisco state audit, the university failed to show documents that newly hired employees had undergone emergency preparedness training provided by the Department of Environmental Health and Safety and the campus police department.

Not all 10 members of the San Francisco State Emergency Operations Committee from 2017 to 2019 completed six FEMA training courses.

Aside from training, the entire campus did not have “building evacuation plans that included procedures for reporting emergencies, counting all staff, performing rescue/medical duties, providing accommodations for people with disabilities, and listing contact information for staff who might have questions regarding the plan.” ‘, according to a 2020 audit.

Although San Francisco lies near one of the most dangerous and active fault lines in the western United States – the San Andreas Fault – the university appears ill-prepared to deal with emergencies.

In 2019, the Senate approved $8 billion in bonds for CSU and UC Systems to help “expand student capacity in classrooms and laboratories; address deficiencies in fire, safety, and earthquakes; and to modernize and build facilities to keep pace with current technology and workforce needs.” The bond also requires universities to submit five-year plans that prioritize “the seismic retrofitting needed to reduce seismic risk in buildings identified as high priority.”

In a statement in response to the 2019 bond, CSU wrote that its aging infrastructure was “in dire need of renovation and replacement, with more than half of our facility space aged 40 years or more and the third over 50 years old.”

“On all 23 California State University campuses, buildings are crumbling, which is why (this bond) is so essential,” said Mia Kagianas, president of the California State Student Union.

There are many different earthquake structure plans designed to prevent collapse, Kolozvari said. Buildings can have a core insulation system placed under the foundation, which is a soft layer separating the structure from the base. During an earthquake, the rubber layer helps absorb energy coming from seismic faults rather than energy affecting the structure.

Kolozvari said hydraulic and seismic dampers can also be placed in buildings to help absorb and dissipate energy.

“The purpose of the building code is to prevent collapse and save human life,” said Kolozvari.

Part Two: Earthquakes and the Campus

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