FLOOD03743

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: 25th Annual Celebration Hazards Research and Applications Workshop
• Date: 7/9/2000
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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ROO-25

Louise K. Comfort
Graduate School of Public &
International Affairs
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PAl 5260
E-mail: [e-mail]

RESPONSE OPERATIONS FOLLOWING THE CHICm, TAIWAN EARTHQUAKE:
Mobilizing a Rapidly Evolving, Interorganizational System

This study examined the process of rapid mobilization of emergency response personnel in an
interorganizational, interdisciplinary, inteJjurisdictional response system following the ChiChi, Taiwan
Earthquake of21 September 1999. The study is based upon data gathered during a reconnaissance trip to
Taiwan sponsored by the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan,
October 2-10, 1999,

The study specifically focuses on the tension between administrative control and self organization by
addressing four related issues. First, I present briefly the initial conditions of the technical, organizational,
and cultural environment that characterized the commWlities of Central Taiwan which were stricken by the
9.21,99 Earthquake, and governed the context of disaster operations, Second, I analyze briefly the existing
administrative structure of the emergency response process presented in the 1994 National Emergency
Response Plan that was in effect at the time of the 9.21.99 earthquake, identifying a set of critical points of
interaction among the participants essential for effective response, Third, I compare the stated policies of
the existing Emergency Plan with reports of actions taken by a set of fifteen practicing disaster managers
who played significant roles in disaster operations at different jurisdictional levels, These reports represent
only a small subset of actions taken during the entire disaster response process and are necessarily
incomplete, Yet, they illustrate key points in the response process where the demands of the disaster
conditions exceeded the existing capacity for administrative control. Under these conditions, self organizing
processes by responsible managers at their respective levels of jurisdiction proved essential to protect lives
and properly in the stricken commWlities. Finally, I offer a set of recommendations to enhance the capacity
for self organization in disaster response:
. Conduct a systematic process of after-action review of response operations for this complex event.
Such a review process provides a knowledge base for continuing training and monitoring of
performance in an environment prone to seismic risk.
. Invest in information infrastructure to support commWlication, coordination among levels of
government involved in emergency response: town, COWlty, national, international
. Use resources ofWliversities to build knowledge base for community vulnerable to seismic and other
hazards, as well as to improve training of emergency response personnel
. Develop linkages in research and training with other nations exposed to seismic risk, as a means of
expanding knowledge and skills in coping with the recurring problem of earthquakes and other
hazards in Taiwan
. Propose international standards for humanitarian assistance in disaster so that needed assistance will
not be delayed or affected by political constraints

I acknowledge, with gratitude, the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, Kobe University, for their
support of my participation in this study. The full findings from the study are presented in an article,
"Response Operations following the ChiChi, Taiwan Earthquake: Mobilizing a Rapidly Evolving
Interorganizational System." 2000. Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Vol. 23, No.4: pp. 1-14.