Two messages. ---------------Johnnie ------------------------------------------ Wed, 10 Nov 1993 18:11 EST Greg Durocher - Anchorage ESIC <GDUROCHER@USGSRESV> RE: earthquake preparedness Bolting map storage units to the floor shouldn't be necessary unless they are unusually tall. The carpet would thwart "walking" which might occur on a bare floor. If you got an 8 or 9 magnitude quake, it might help, but with all the other damage that would be done, there might be little added benefit. I have not been through that kind of quake, but have heard a lot of personal stories of those who experienced the '64 quake. Greg Durocher Anchorage, Alaska "Personal Opinion from the Last Frontier" ---------------------------------------------------- Wed, 10 Nov 93 18:56:06 PST "J. K. Herro" <[log in to unmask]> 50 or 60 map cases in the Branner Earth Sciences Library collection fell over during the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 1989, because the drawers were allowed to rumble open and the weight of the maps in the drawers pulled the cases right over into the aisle. At Stanford's main library, another map collection had no map cases go over. This was a closed stack collection; all 120 cases were barred & padlocked shut. Our cases now have bars holding all drawers closed but not locked. Sheet steel plates bolted to the sides gang the three-high stacks. Side-by-side stacks are joined at their bases. Where stacks stand back-to-back those stacks are bolted with plates too. No floor bolts are used. If you keep the drawers closed you won't need them. This is not true for book stacks, which should be floor-anchored with .375 x 3" bolts. Carpeting should not run under stack bases at all. A community college library in Saratoga had 90% of their stacks fail in the '89 quake because no boltholes were to be drilled in the carpet. Sorry, Janet, that is some bad news about the carpet. JK Herro Branner Earth Sciences Library and Map Collections Mitchell Building mc 2210 Stanford, CA 94305