Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 7, 1994 TAG: 9402070066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
In fact, he was on the ninth floor of the architecture building when the Santa Rosa tremors began.
"That made an impression on me," he said.
Last month, Krimgold - now working out of Virginia Tech's Alexandria center as a director of technology for outreach programs - was back in California on the heels of the Jan. 17 quake in Los Angeles.
Over the years, he has become an earthquake consultant featured on several TV talk shows and a key figure in developing a national response to such disasters. The Los Angeles quake was its first big test, and Krimgold gave the response plan high marks.
"A system of 25 teams, two of which are in Virginia, has been preparing itself for this kind of an event," he said. "We learned a hell of a lot. . . . We have the security of knowing there is a system that works."
Krimgold has chased earthquakes around the world, including search-and-rescue work in Armenia after a 1988 quake left 60,000 dead. He and eight others on the team became the first Americans to be awarded a Soviet order for personal courage.
He testified before the House science and technology subcommittee in 1989 on lessons learned from such quakes. That helped pave the way for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up a national search-and-rescue system, with teams that can be activated within six hours of a quake or hurricane - or the World Trade Center bombing, he said.
FEMA retained Krimgold as a consultant through a contract with Virginia Tech. After a 1990 conference in Seattle, the task forces were set up.
Using such search techniques as trained dogs, electronic devices and microwave scans, they pinpoint where people might be trapped beneath structures.
Rescuers with expertise in structural engineering, rigging and heavy equipment cut away debris to prevent further collapse.
Emergency medical technicians, experienced in exposure, dehydration, dust inhalation and similar problems, often can start treating the victim before removal.
"It's a very complex thing, particularly when you have an injured person," Krimgold said.
Krimgold said several hundred people in various disciplines probably have put in more than $10 million of donated time. "So there's a really interesting mix of organizational backgrounds," he said.
Krimgold was part of the oversight team in Los Angeles for the first three days after the quake. He returned to make structural evaluations of school buildings.
The death toll came to about 60, including people who suffered heart attacks, died in quake-related traffic accidents, or were hospital patients on respirators who died before emergency power came on.
One young woman died of an adrenal surge, "which in colloquial terms might be called fright."
Four backups were activated to relieve the initial teams, plus two additional federal teams. "It was not known how many would be needed," he said. "In this case, I think they made the right decision in taking a safety margin."
One backup group was delayed for six hours in the Dulles airport because of an ice storm. "As it turned out, the ice storm caused twice as many fatalities as the earthquake," Krimgold said.
The Northridge Meadows apartment complex where 16 people died was built after California's 1971 quake but before building-code revisions took effect. "It was just in that tricky time frame there," Krimgold said.
The complex was was a three-story, wood-frame stucco building, with thin column supports. "The result is the building is not symmetrically supported."
The quake happened at 4:31 a.m. on a holiday, when offices, shopping centers and highways were empty. Had it hit later in the day, Krimgold said, "I'm sure that we would have had thousands of fatalities. And I'm also sure that we would have needed all 25 teams. . . . We were just a few hours away from exceeding our capacity to respond."
by CNB