The Reconnaissance Training Workshop on Tuesday, April 9 will provide instruction in post-earthquake reconnaissance tools and techniques, such as documenting perishable data on geological, geotechnical, structural, and lifelines impacts; utilizing instruments, survey tools, and mobile-based software apps in the field; understanding resources for sharing, publishing, and archiving reconnaissance data; and dealing with the methodological and ethical dimensions of rapid-response research in post-disaster contexts. The workshop will feature presentations from key organizations in the reconnaissance community as well as a presentation from the Washington Geological Survey introducing the multi-hazard Washington Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse, a new framework for coordinating reconnaissance following earthquake, tsunami, landslide, and volcano events impacting Washington State.
On Friday, April 12, participants will have the opportunity to practice these skills in a full-day Reconnaissance Field Exercise. EERI is partnering with the Washington Geological Survey to conduct the first in-person exercise of the new Washington Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse Plan. The exercise will be based on the scenario of a M7.5 earthquake on the Seattle Fault, and will incorporate projected impacts based on new research from USGS and local partners, including the Seattle Office of Emergency Management, WSDOT, and regional utilities. The exercise will begin at the Sheraton Grand with a morning briefing from the Washington Emergency Management Division and the activation of the Clearinghouse. After the briefing, participants will join interdisciplinary field teams for clearinghouse check-in and deployment. Each team will then visit a subset of a number of planned field stations accessible on foot, around downtown Seattle, along the waterfront, and in the Pioneer Square and International District neighborhoods. At the field stations, participants will have the opportunity to collect reconnaissance data, including mockups of effects such as ground deformation, debris deposits, and tsunami inundation, and impacts to URM and retrofitted buildings as well as to lifeline systems in the area. After visiting the field stations and breaking for lunch, teams will return to clearinghouse headquarters at the Sheraton Grand for a debrief session with data sharing and visualization examples, and a happy hour.
