Tacoma Weekly

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FREE s Friday, June 8, 2012

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TACOMAWEEKLY 24 YE A R S O F SE R V I C E BE C A U S E CO M M U N I T Y MAT T E R S

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEMAY/ACM

GRAND OPENING

SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM GRAND OPENING ON PAGE A7

Agencies hold response drill for the ‘big one’

Port to relocate security operations By John Larson jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

BE PREPARED. The hundreds of emergency responders played out a simulated earthquake to prepare for when the real

one comes as part of an annual exercise that involved state, county and local efforts. By Steve Dunkelberger stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

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o one felt tremors. No one flooded hospitals. Power and cell phone service remained intact. But the effects of a major earthquake were felt and discussed in “situation rooms” and “command centers” around the region during a practice emergency response drill as a way to be better prepared for when the earth shakes for real. More than 22 Pierce County cities, towns, departments and organizations practiced their emergency response plans earlier this week during a simulated magnitude 7.1 earthquake along the Tacoma Fault. An earthquake of that strength is considered a major disaster, with destruction over a large area. It is not a matter of fiction, however, since the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating scientists have assessed that an earthquake of that size struck the South Sound some 1,100 years ago and is “almost certain to occur in the future.” The most recent comparable disaster was the Nisqually earthquake of 2001. That earthquake, however, just reached a magnitude of 6.8, was centered in a largely rural area and occurred much deeper in the soil, which limited its destructive potential. It still managed to tally some $2 billion in

Helping veterans A4

TAX MEASURE: Pierce Transit Board may place sales tax increase on ballot. PAGE A2

More than 22 Pierce County cities, towns, departments and organizations practiced their emergency response plans earlier this week during a simulated magnitude 7.1 earthquake along the Tacoma Fault. damages. Movement of the Tacoma Fault would be closer to the surface, have a higher magnitude and hit a more densely populated area that stretches from Kent and Auburn to Thurston County. The Tacoma Fault runs west to east just northwest of Tacoma and has fingers that reach across Puget Sound to Federal Way. Damage from a quake along the fault would come from the ground shaking buildings, aftershocks chipping away at already damaged foundations, landslides and tsunami

Carnage continues A5

Local News ..............A2 City Briefs................A3

waves flooding much of Tacoma’s Tideflats, Fife and areas around Interstate 5 in a matter of minutes. A two-day exercise, dubbed “Operation Pine Cone,” was designed to test the emergency response plans to handle what would happen next. In the simulation, some 752 people were “confirmed dead” and 3,671 were “injured.” Interstate 5 was blocked by collapsed overpasses, the County/City Building was destroyed and a pipeline at McChord Field See EARTHQUAKE / page A8

See SECURITY/ page A8

Hindu inspiration C1

Baseball all-stars B1

Sports ......................B1 A&E .........................C1

On May 24 Port of Tacoma Commission took action on two items related to security on the Tideflats. The port has issued a call for bids for work associated with two security gates. Trevor Thornsley, a port employee who is senior project manager, said an existing gate on East 11th Street is inadequate for securing during emergencies. The other gate is located on Alexander Avenue. The estimated cost of the work is $2.1 million. The contract will be awarded in July. The port will also relocate its security operations from the current location on East 11th Street, near the port administrative building on Sitcum Waterway, to the Fabulich Center, an office building near the Fife/Tacoma border that is used for commission meetings. The port leases out other space in this building to a variety of businesses. This is a portable structure. Eric Holderman, the port’s director of security, said it shakes when trucks or other heavy vehicle roll by. The port wants to make more land available for moving breakbulk cargo and this is one location identified for that purpose. Holderman said that last year the port was presented with grant money that will go toward the relocation from the federal Department of Homeland Security. The overall cost is expected to be $1,138,000. Grants will cover $742,000 of that. Computers and various security equipment will be moved to the Fabulich Center. The current building will be demolished when the relocation is completed, which

Make A Scene ........C5 Calendar .................C6

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