5 years later, are buildings any safer than before the 7.1 magnitude quake?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The shaking began in the morning.

Elementary students were still getting ready to leave for school on a dark November morning when the rumbling quickly got the attention of Alaskans. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck just seven miles north of Anchorage at 8:29 a.m. on a Friday morning, beginning at a depth of about 35 miles.

The earthquake was the most significant one to hit Anchorage since the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.

The short but powerful event ripped apart roads, destroyed schools, sank homes below their foundations, and gave some the appearance of a Dr. Seuss-like structure; cockeyed and askew.

Now, five years after the quake, engineers and city leaders reflect on what has changed since that time and what lessons were learned. The big question: Are we in a better place now than we were then?

“I don’t think so,” said Colin Maynard, a structural engineer with 38 years of experience. “Because nothing has really changed in those five years.”

Maynard served on the Anchorage Board of Building Examiners and Appeals for eight years and was the chairman of the Alaska Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors.

Maynard has long advocated that building codes need to be enforced and buildings inspected for safety.

He says that includes areas that traditionally have not wanted strong enforcement of building codes such as Eagle River, Chugiak, Girdwood, the Mat-Su and some of the Hillside.

Maynard says it hasn’t been city or state codes that have improved safety; instead, it’s been people who experienced the quake.

“If (lessons) have been (learned) it’s not by changes of codes, it’s maybe changes in the practice of the people,” Maynard said.

That’s both true for new buildings being constructed and older ones that are being rebuilt, such as schools in the Anchorage School District.

“We have owners coming in and asking us not only to design new buildings but what we’re seeing is people asking us to upgrade their existing buildings,” said Ellen Hamel, a senior engineer with Reid Middleton.

“Previous codes were not as strict, we didn’t know as much about engineering, we didn’t know as much about earthquakes, say, 50 years ago. And it’s not required for owners to upgrade to make their building more resilient, but they are wanting to, so what we’re seeing is more voluntary upgrades of existing buildings.”

On its website, ASD says it is assessing all of its 92 buildings, which includes more than 4,000 classroom spaces.

“So they are a client that has said, “You know, we don’t have to upgrade our buildings, but we have buildings from the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and we know we can do better, frankly for the kids and the people in the building. So they’ve chosen to do it,” Hamel said.

The Port of Alaska said the quake reinforces concerns it’s had for numerous years that a quake could cut Alaska off from supplies.

“There was a lot of concerns about how the corroded wharf piles would respond,” said Stephen Ribuffo, the port director. “And they did exactly what everybody was afraid they were going to do. Not enough to bring the facility out of service, but enough to get our attention for certain, that if we didn’t think we had evidence that we needed to do a modernization program, which is really replace all the docks, that was certainly validated by that.”

The port has been trying to modernize the terminals and other projects for several years.

“Engineers estimate that operational restrictions will need to be placed on Port of Alaska’s aging docks by 2025, possibly sooner, with another major earthquake. While operating restrictions won’t close the docks, they could begin impacting the tenants’ operational efficiency,” reads a post on the port’s website.

There is also the concern about the countless number of older buildings spread across Anchorage that don’t have more current codes.

“What concerns me, or keeps me up at night, if you will, is the older buildings that were designed under previous codes, which means they were designed for likely less load and their detailing is different, which means how exactly the structural members are put together,” Hamel said. “We just didn’t know as much as a community 50 years ago — 40 years ago even — so that’s what concerns me the most.”

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