New book on earthquake damage

    Unexpected-Earthquake 2011: Lessons to be learned
    Smithsonian Contributions to Museum Conservation, number 4
    viii + 105 pages, 86 figures, 3 tables, 2014.
    Charola, A. Elena, Corine Wegener, and Robert J. Koestler,
    editors.

This volume brings together nine reports and six short
communications that describe damage and other problems caused for
the Smithsonian Institution by the earthquake that occurred in the
Washington DC area on 23 August 2011.

The first chapter is a summary of the presentation by Secretary G.
Wayne Clough to the Smithsonian community nearly a month after the
event, and the second gives an overview of the impact that the
earthquake had on buildings and collections.  The third chapter
describes in detail both damages to and post-seismic stabilization
of the Hempstead House, listed as a historic site on Smithsonian
property in Maryland.  The fourth chapter describes some of the
damage to and subsequent conservation of fossils in the National
Museum of Natural History; the next two chapters describe damages
suffered by the Botany-Horticulture Library and the fluid collection
located in this same building.  The short communications report
whether damage was suffered in six other Smithsonian museums.
Chapter eight deals with the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center,
describing damage suffered by collections in the pods of this center
as well as the structure overall and, in particular, its roof, in
which many previously undiscovered leaks were subsequently exposed
(over offices and laboratories) by Hurricane Irene.  The final
chapter brings together recommendations for measures to be
implemented based on the experience gained.  An epilogue on the need
for preparedness for unexpected emergencies and a bibliography close
the volume.

Download it from

    <URL:http://opensi.si.edu/index.php/smithsonian/catalog/book/47>


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 28:18
                 Distributed: Saturday, October 4, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-28-18-005
                                  ***