On Thursday, October 14, 1999, the ABAG Fall 1999 General Assembly was held focusing on implementing the lessons learned from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The following day, October 15th, focused on additional policy issues.
The Thursday sessions began with a focus on current research by the U.S. Geological Survey, the California Division of Mines and Geology, and ABAG. USGS provided the latest information on earthquake probabilities - a forecast of a 70% likelihood of a major (magnitude 6.7 or larger) earthquake occurring in the Bay Area by 2030. David Schwartz stressed that the 70% was plus or minus 10%. Probabilities for fault systems and fault segments were also released, and can be accessed from the "On Shaky Ground" button on this site.
The second morning session focused on lifelines, with presentations by Caltrans, EBMUD, PG&E, BART, and PacBell.
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt provided the keynote address.
The first afternoon session focused on the disaster resistant communities of FEMA, including Oakland, Berkeley, UC Berkeley, and Napa County.
The potential for housing crises and legislative initiatives completed the agenda.
The Friday sessions focus on policy priorities for disaster response, recovery, and mitigation, as well as the broad issue of how to pay for disasters. The final session was a field trip to the UC Berkeley Field Station in Richmond, California.
| Cover Graphics |
| REVISED Agenda for Thursday, October 14, 1999 |
| REVISED Agenda for Friday, October 15, 1999 |
| Conference Highlights |
jbp 10/18/99