ATC announces an ATC-20 Webinar for Responders in Nepal

In response to the magnitude-7.6 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, the Applied Technology Council will be providing a 120-minute recorded webinar on the Second Edition of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual: Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings, for free viewing (for a limited time). 

The purpose of the webinar is to provide an overview of the basic postearthquake safety evaluation procedures to those who are interested in responding to the earthquake in Nepal. Please note that in order to use the procedures in Nepal, the evaluator will need more comprehensive training, as well as an in-depth understanding of the local construction methods. Accordingly, would-be evaluators should contact engineering organizations in Nepal, such as National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET), for further information and training. The Seismic Vulnerabilities Guideline for Private and Public Buildings - Part II: Post Disaster Damage Assessment document, developed by NSET based on the ATC-20 Methodology, is available here.

Professional development hour (PDH) credits or certifications will not be presented to viewers of this webinar. A 5-hour long in-person comprehensive training course is available on-demand from ATC and is better suited for training postearthquake safety evaluators. You may learn more about this option here.

The webinar is based on the ATC-20-1 Field Manual that was developed for the building inventory typical to the United States. The scope of the procedures are for buildings only and do not cover other structures, such as bridges and dams. The evaluation forms and posting placards contained within the document can be downloaded for free from here. A copy of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual is highly recommended for reference. A printed copy of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual can be obtained here. An electronic version of the ATC-20-1 Field Manual is not available.

The Applied Technology Council first published the ATC-20, Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings, report in 1989 (under a contract from the California Office of Emergency Services and the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) to document procedures and guidelines for the safety evaluation of damaged buildings. The document was written specifically for use by volunteer structural engineers, and for building inspectors and structural engineers from city building departments and other regulatory agencies, who would be required to make on-the-spot evaluations and decisions regarding continued use and occupancy of damaged buildings. Two weeks after the completion of the ATC-20 report, the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area in California and caused casualties and significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. Immediately following the earthquake, the ATC-20 methodology was used. Since 1989, a family of ATC-20 documents has been developed; and this second edition of the Field Manual (ATC-20-1) provides the ATC-20 methodology in a concise, easy-to-use field reference document that trained professionals can take into damaged areas.

In January 2015, ATC completed the development of ATC-20-1 Field Manual Bhutan Edition, which is an adaptation accounting for Bhutan’s vernacular buildings, as well as Bhutan’s cultural and governmental context. This work was developed through a partnership of ATC, GeoHazards International (GHI), and the Royal Government of Bhutan’s Department of Engineering Services (DES) and Department of Disaster Management (DDM), with support from the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Applied Technology Council Endowment Fund. You can read more about the ATC-20-1 Field Manual Bhutan Edition here.