Jim Pace, K7CEX, District 4 DEC says "Kudos to Lewis
County ARES/RACES Team, for their response to the earthquake. I was very
proud of their response and professional actions. You folks are a credit
to your community.
73s Jim
ARRL Bulletin reads. . .
Hams responded within minutes after an earthquake hit the Seattle area the morning of February 28. The epicenter was some 35 miles southwest of Seattle, but the quake was felt as far away as Salt Lake City. Washington Governor Gary Locke declared a state of emergency for western Washington.
As of week's end, Amateur Radio had scaled back its response as power and
telephone service returned to the stricken region. Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) teams in the
quake zone were mobilized within minutes of
the event. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) and
the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) also activated.
Residents in the affected region now are picking up the pieces. Damage estimates could top $2 billion. Upwards of 350 injuries--a few of them serious enough to require hospitalization--were reported, but no deaths were directly attributed to the earthquake. ARRL Western Washington Section Manager Harry Lewis, W7JWJ, reported that very soon after the quake struck, State RACES Officer Jim Sutton, WA7PHD, was on the air, handling net control duties for the Washington State Emergency Net on 75 meters from the State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray. Western Washington Section Nets also activated on HF SSB, and in the Seattle area, ARES volunteers had mounted an emergency repeater net with King County EC Rich Hodges, KB7TBF, and Lt. Russ Reed, N7NOV, of the US Coast Guard sharing NCS chores. Several other county ARES nets took to the air.
Amateur Radio operators also set up a temporary 2-meter net to assist the Red Cross with damage assessment. An unconfirmed report says one ham used an ATV link from a helicopter to the State EOC--where Governor Locke was on hand--to survey the damage below.
While Eastern Washington was not as badly affected, Spokane County ARES/RACES
activated to assist. Because the Spokane County Department of Emergency
Management had trouble
maintaining contact with the State EOC at Camp Murray, an auxiliary
cross-state link was established via the Washington Emergency Net. "This HF
link was maintained by Spokane County's off-site Official Emergency Stations,
communicating with operators at the County EOC by 2 meters," said Spokane
County EC Nathan Jeffries, KI7QT, who said the action drew later praise from a
County emergency official.
Eastern Washington SM Kyle Pugh, KA7CSP, said "a loose information net" also fired up on 40 meters to handle general inquiries and health-and-welfare traffic.
The Alaska Pacific Emergency Preparedness Net also took the airwaves on 20 meters (14.292 MHz). "The net was opened within minutes of the quake, and hundreds of messages were passed," said Bob Baker, NL7UH, in Anchorage, Alaska. Baker praised net participants for their "very highly professional manner. The net was formed after the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and it includes several net control stations in Alaska and in the "Lower 48."
The SATERN Net activated for about six hours on 20 meters (14.265 MHz), processing health-and-welfare information requests and handing out situation reports from Washington and Oregon amateur stations. "Scores of stations over the nation assisted in relay," said National SATERN Director Pat McPherson, WW9E. SATERN's Web site, www.go.to/satern, remains available for inquiries. Lewis said he was "deeply impressed" by the speedy amateur response.