2004 NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE CONFERENCE

Award of Excellence Recipient

Award Category:  Outreach

Program Name: Earthquake Program

Contact: Barbara Thurman

Public Education Program Manager

Washington State Emergency Management

Building 20, MS:TA-20

Camp Murray WA 98430-5122

Phone:  (253) 512-7047

Fax:      (253) 512-7206

Email:  b.thurman@emd.wa.gov

In September 2001, Washington State's Emergency Management Division (EMD) in partnership with the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, New Zealand, completed a social science study of tsunami awareness and preparedness of coastal communities on the Washington Coast. It identified key deficiencies in our public education efforts. The report led to other studies conducted in February 2003 that identified school children did not understand how tsunami warnings were received, were unfamiliar with how to prepare for a tsunami and did not understand how evacuation would be conducted for a tsunami strike.

In April 2003, EMD in partnership with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and in consultation with the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, developed a publication to address the issues children do not understand. How the Smart Family Survived a Tsunami provides a new approach to reaching thousands of children who live within the state's tsunami zones. This booklet has greatly enhanced tsunami awareness in Washington State. 
  

The Organizing Committee of the 2004 National Earthquake Conference is doing business as the Western States Seismic Policy Council.