Citizens’ Complaints, Suggestions Prompt New Post-Earthquake Protocols at Civil Defense

November 26 Update: Today's Star-Bulletin carries an Associated Press story that's essentially a rewrite of yesterday's Advertiser report. CHORE participants should take note of -- as well as some satisfaction in -- the third paragraph: "Officials took the step after critics said the state should have done a better job informing residents after last month's 6.7 magnitude earthquake...."

Hawaii residents now know that if they push a rope hard enough and long enough, even a rope will move.

The new post-earthquake protocols described in today’s Honolulu Advertiser are a direct response to your concerns and complaints about the information void that dragged on for hours after the October 15th earthquakes.

State Civil Defense says Thursday was the first time the Emergency Alert System was used to announce that no tsunami had been generated by an earthquake.

On October 15th, residents living near the shore had no such help in knowing whether a tsunami was heading their way following the two strong earthquakes that rattled the island chain.

Officials later admitted they made a conscious decision – and an obvious mistake, in CHORE’s opinion – to not issue a no-tsunami message because they thought the public would panic. The new protocols seem to acknowledge that the public deserves more credit than that.

Big Island Leads the Way

The story also notes that Big Island officials “…use local radio stations as their primary method of communicating with the public in emergencies…” Mayor Harry Kim – who earned his spurs as the island’s Civil Defense chief – reportedly was talking to Big Island radio stations inside of 10 minutes after the quake.

Good for him and them! It’s unfortunate that their common-sense solution to getting the word out – using radio’s unmatched ubiquity and flexibility – seems to be the exception, not only in Hawaii but about around the Pacific Rim.

CHORE’S sister blog – Tsunami Lessons – was founded one week after the Christmas 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the premise that a tsunami warning transmitted immediately via the major networks and ultimately to consumers watching television and listening to radio could have saved untold numbers of lives. (Readers are invited to plow through several dozen posts at Tsunami Lessons, starting with the first one.)

Big Island officials are validating that premise on a micro scale, and we urge officials at NOAA and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to pay attention.

However, glitches still exist in even that efficient communications channel. Several radio stations that serve Kona residents were knocked off the air by a power blackout on Thursday. Backup generation has been ordered by at least one station.

Trust Your Own Eyes

Today’s Advertiser story prompts CHORE to rethink its Thanksgiving Day post and the time KGMB-TV ran its first EAS voice and visual alert after the earthquake.

We knew an alert interrupted the NFL game at 10 a.m. and therefore included that time in our first post. But domestic chores had interfered with nonstop football viewing, so we called the station to confirm that 10 o'clock was the first such announcement.

After a short delay to allegedly check with the control room, a staffer said the notice was first aired at 9:35, and that’s what we posted in a revision. In light of Civil Defense’s statement that it first generated an EAS alert at 9:57, it would seem KGMB fudged its time and that 10 a.m. was indeed its first EAS message.

Instead of a 15-minute delay after the 9:20 quake in generating an EAS alert, State Civil Defense now confirms a 37-minute delay, which accentuates the whole thrust of Thursday’s CHORE post. If tsunamis can begin striking other islands 15 minutes after a major Big Island quake, even a quarter hour is unacceptable; 37 minutes is inexcusable.

Why Does Progress Take So Long?

Civil Defense’s spokesman says in today’s story that the 37-minute lag on Thursday was because (quoting the story) “…Civil Defense officials had not yet formalized procedures on issuing a post-earthquake tsunami all-clear message on the Emergency Alert System….”

The Thanksgiving Day earthquake was 39 days after our big October 15th wakeup call. Should it really take more than five weeks to fix a major problem in the State’s emergency response procedures? As of Thursday, it still wasn’t fixed. What’s the status now, and what’s holding up progress – too many middle people, too much bureaucracy, too many meetings of the Comprehensive Communications Review Committee?

Yet another earthquake (magnitude 4.3) shook the Big Island this morning. Public safety requires significant enhancements in emergency communications procedures now, not later, and not because of a New Year's resolution. Citizens can't wait that long.