Why do we need Earthquake Retrofitting?

The Following is from an article I read on msn.com it was about the hazards of unreinforced masonry in earthquake zones.

In many vulnerable cities, people are effectively stacked on top of one another in buildings designed as if earthquakes don't happen. It is not the tremor that kills people in an earthquake but the buildings, routinely constructed on the cheap, using faulty designs and, in some cities, overseen by corrupt inspectors. The difference between life and death is often a matter of how much sand went into the cement or how much steel into a supporting column. Earthquakes might be viewed as acts of God, but their lethality is often a function of masonry.
"In recent earthquakes, buildings have acted as weapons of mass destruction," Bilham writes in the journal Nature.

Difficult to predict
For years, earthquake scientists have shouted their warnings about the strong likelihood that a major quake would level an impoverished city and kill hundreds of thousands of people. They have said, for example, that Kathmandu, where masonry structures expand so haphazardly that some eventually cantilever over narrow city streets, is every bit as vulnerable as the surrounding Himalayas are majestic. They have said that a million people could die in a major quake in Tehran.

What's impossible, however, is knowing precisely which of these cities will be the next to crumble. Or when. For all practical purposes, scientists can't predict earthquakes.

Now, I'm not saying that the Carnegie library building was built substandard, it was simply built before we knew steps that needed to be taken to keep a building from collapsing totally and thus killing every unfortunate soul inside. I had a patron ask why we were earthquake proofing again. I far as I know this is the first time we have ever had any work done on the building to stabilize it. She swears she remembers that we did work on the Carnegie building a few years ago for the same thing. I don't know what she is referring to but it wasn't an earthquake retrofitting like we are currently undergoing. We all know that our region is overdue for the next "Big One" so, I for one am happy that we can take these preventative measures to save lives and historic buildings.
Michele, Children's Librarian

Adding to your Basics

Adding to the Basics of your Food Storage
I have tried to have food storage in the past.. We bought cases of what we liked and did not rotate the items and they went over date and we threw them away. With the earthquakes in Haiti, we live on an earthquake fault, I thought I might need to think of emergency food storage. Then one of my friends' daughter had problems getting food from grocery stores during this winter's snow storms back east. So I have started buying dehydrated canned food..that will not spoil. One or two items a week. Then I will add a few items I will rotate like water and peanut butter.

Here are some ideas of adding to the Basics:



Adding to the Basics
. . . Bulk Food Storage Expanded
. . . A Six Step Plan
Add some variety to your bulk food storage.
STEP 1:
IF I HAVE Wheat, Powdered Milk, Oil, Salt, Honey or Sugar, Water
I CAN MAKE Popped Wheat ,Steamed Wheat, Sprouted Wheat, Cooked Cracked Wheat, Tortillas

STEP 2
IF I ADD Yeast, Baking Powder, Powdered Eggs, Baking Soda
I CAN MAKE THESE ADDITIONS: Custards, Puddings, Pancakes, Cookies, Waffles, Muffins, English Muffins, German Pancakes, Crepes, Egg Noodles, Pasta, Breads, Biscuits, Crackers, Mayonnaise. A lot more options huh? Keep reading.

STEP 3:
IF I ADD Powdered Butter, Tomatoes, Powdered Cheese
I CAN MAKE THESE ADDITIONS: Meatless Dinners, Meatless Casseroles, Cream Sauces These really add flavor.

STEP 4:
IF I ADD Unflavored Gelatin, Canned Milk, Canned Fruits
I CAN MAKE THESE ADDITIONS: Jello Salads, Whipped Cream Desserts, Baby Formula, fruit dishes Mmm, now we have desserts.

STEP 5:
IF I ADD Soup Base, Rice, Legumes (Beans), Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, Alfalfa Seeds, Sesame Seeds
I CAN MAKE THESE ADDITIONS: Hearty Dinner Soups, Chili, Rice Puddings, Refried Beans, Rice Dishes, Fresh Sprouts, Gluten This would really expand your dinner menu in an emergency.

STEP 6:
IF I ADD Canned Meats, Dried Potatoes
I CAN MAKE THESE ADDITIONS: Dinners, Casseroles, Sandwiches. This may not sound like a lot but a meaty flavor can make all the difference.


STEP 7:
EXTRAS: Oats, Raisin, Nuts, Peanut Butter, Granola, Juices, Corn Starch, Soup Mixes, Spices & Flavorings, Lemon Powder or Juice, White Flour, Shortening or Margarine, Cream of Tartar, Junket Rennet Tablet, Molasses, Karo Syrup, etc. These are small things that you could do without but really add variety to your diet.
What do you cook with? Add it to your food storage.

Do you have a 72 hour kit or do you have emergency food storage?

Share with us you ideas.

If you need help check out these library books:

Food storage 101 : where do I begin?
Peggy Layton

Making the best of basics : family preparedness handbook

Sue

Drilling and Meeting Rooms

What do these two have in common? They are both on my mind this morning. When I came to work this morning, there were orange cones blocking the library staff parking and there are paint marks all over the parking lot. I wasn't sure who was up to what... Sue tells me that they are doing core drilling to test the soil around the library for the upcoming earth-quake proofing. I guess they want to see what type of soil the library is built on and what it is going to do if we have an earthquake. I've been told that much of Brigham is built on riverbed which means loose rocky soil that doesn't hold up in an earthquake, it will shake your house to pieces. They are drilling at this very moment right out the original entrance of the library - what a noise!

Then on the subject of the meeting rooms, we've had a lot of calls lately to reserve rooms and we haven't had any space! We have 3 meeting rooms and two of them are full of the Lewis and Clark display right now. This is one consequence of the bond not passing and having to live on in the old building - not enough room - not even for meeting space. We are one of the few places left in Brigham City where you can reserve a room for free. Anyone can use our meeting rooms if the meeting is open to the public, no admission fees are charged, and no collections are taken or anything sold. You can see the policies for our meeting rooms under library policies. Of course, library programming always gets first dibs on the rooms.

Susan

Saturday Musings on Wednesday

I wrote this Saturday and never finished. I was waiting for something exciting to happen Saturday afternoon that I could write about - it never happened. Anyway, here is what I was thinking about on Saturday.

Saturday AM

I need to start associating with younger people. It seems there is someone I know in the obituaries every week now. Today it was John E. Lomaquahu. John worked at the library as the janitor for awhile many years ago. He was a great janitor and he always had a smile and a pleasant word to say. When he "retired" from here, he would often come in to say hi and he'd do small painting jobs at the library or for the staff. He was a great person.

The new answering message. How do you like it? We're getting some complaints because nobody wants to sit through that message every time they call. You can push "0" to get you through that. It has really cut down on staff time answering the phone to questions like "when do you close?", "What are your hours?", "Do you have the Internet?". We'll do a survey later in the year to get your input.

Noon

Freezing! A warm, lovely day outside and the backroom where I had lunch is freezing. I had to turn on the electric heater. For some reason, that reminds me about the grant we have to earthquake-proof the library. It's going to happen soon and I wonder what it is going to entail. My desk is in the old part of the library and that's were they are starting. I think I'll be evicted - where will the non-fiction books go? Will we be in a trailer in the parking lot? Will the books be stored? It's going to be a major "shake-up" (some pun intended) when they start working on it.

Susan