Waking many in the early hours of the morning, the 1994
Northridge earthquake violently shook the ground beneath the
Southland, creating widespread destruction and tension.
As freeways crumbled and hundreds became trapped under the
rubble of their own homes, the 6.6 temblor led to shattered glass
throughout the UCLA campus, fears that the iconic Royce Hall towers
would tumble, and a general uneasiness among the student
population.
That early morning on Jan. 17 also became one of the UCLA
emergency response plan’s greatest tests.
Today, administrators looking back at the handling of the
disaster say the process was fairly successful, but add that
important lessons were also learned.
Joanna Cooper had just turned 19 when she experienced the
Northridge earthquake on the fifth floor of Rieber residence
hall.
She said that as everything started shaking, all she could
remember was the subdued red light of the emergency exit signs as
she held on to her roommate under the frame of their doorway.
“Everything was out, except for those emergency lights.
… I remember being very panicked,” said Cooper, who
graduated from UCLA in 1996 and now lives in Encino.
Later that morning, after students had gone down to the Sproul
turnaround and had been assured it was safe to go back to their
dorm rooms, Cooper and everyone on her floor huddled near the
elevator and fell asleep.
Only one phone worked on the fifth floor of Rieber that morning,
and Cooper remembers waiting in a long line to call her
parents.
“They live in Orange County and didn’t understand
why I was calling them to tell them I was OK. They didn’t
know it was that bad yet,” Cooper said.
The earthquake also had several students in Dykstra Hall tying
bedsheets together and creating makeshift ladders to get out of the
10-story building, according to Daily Bruin archives.
In the hours after the earthquake, reactions from students on
the Hill ranged from terror to annoyance. And as the week
continued, the mood turned quiet.
“It was definitely a ghost town. People didn’t go to
campus and everyone was subdued,” Cooper said.
With televisions not working, class canceled, and much of the
campus a mess, many students spent their days talking and relaxing
with one another.
In addition to easing the concerns of panicked students the
morning of the earthquake, UCLA officials also needed to address
the structural damage that occurred at the residence halls ““
everything from buckled doorways to broken windows.
Jack Powazek, assistant vice chancellor of general services, was
just one of many UCLA officials who was called to campus the
morning of the quake to direct the campus’ emergency response
plan.
With the primary concerns being the medical center and the
resident population on the Hill, Powazek had his hands full in the
early hours of the morning as he attempted to gather information
from all parts of the campus and address the lack of certain
utilities, such as electricity.
Acting quickly, campus officials had power up an running within
three to four hours, Powazek said, and continued by scouring the
campus and assessing the damage.
Powazek said he remembers standing in the emergency headquarters
as the sun came up that morning and getting an ominous call from
the structural engineers investigating Royce Hall.
“I remember the structural engineer saying,
“˜I’m seeing cracks in the towers.’ Chills went
through me when I heard that. It was our first real inkling that we
had structural damage,” he said.
As administrators canceled class for the next week, engineers
worked furiously to address the damage, even making a passageway of
drywall and dry timber through Kinsey Hall, Powazek said.
Rick Greenwood, who was then a contractor for UCLA and is now
director of the Office of Environment, Health and Safety, said he
remembers a huge pumping truck being driven onto campus to clean up
flooding that occurred in a South Campus building. The damage was
serious because the water had mixed with chemicals in research labs
and spilled over into the hallways.
Officials dealing with the structural concerns throughout campus
were able to have the campus running a week later with 99 percent
of classrooms operational, Powazek said.
Among the foremost lessons learned that week was the importance
of communication, both Powazek and Greenwood said.
“In the days afterward, it was difficult getting
consistent communication. That’s why we have mass e-mail
now,” Greenwood said, adding that today’s emergency
response plan is crafted specifically to enhance communication
between the chancellor’s office, emergency response crews and
the various populations on campus.
While the week after the Northridge earthquake was hectic for
administrators and engineers, it was fairly quiet for the student
population.
Cooper said she believed the campus disaster plan was organized,
fairly responsive, and that officials “did the best they
could.”
Saying she always felt protected, the former Rieber resident
added that the experience was also very emotional for her.
“It was like post-traumatic stress disorder. I
couldn’t sleep. … The whole experience was pretty
overwhelming,” Cooper said.