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 Previous: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending October 16, 2006 |  Next: ITU to Mark 100 Years of International Radio Regulations |
Robin Liu, AH6CP, enters radio messages into the SCD e-mail system. [Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, Photo] |
Kevin Bogan, AH6QO, operates the HF radio. |
Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, staffs the VHF radio position. [Kevin Bogan, AH6QO, Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 19, 2006 -- Amateur Radio volunteers scrambled to provide emergency communication and assist with relief efforts after earthquakes October 15 on the "Big Island" of Hawaii. The initial jolt of the so-called "Kona Earthquake" just after 7 AM local time rousted many residents from sleep; another followed soon after. Widespread power outages as well as structural and highway damage resulted throughout the Hawaiian Islands, although a feared tsunami never developed and no deaths were reported. Gov Linda Lingle and the federal government have declared a state of emergency.
"ARES and RACES operators responded to Hawaii State and Oahu Civil Defense Emergency Operation Centers," reports Hawaii State RACES Coordinator and ARRL State Civil Defense (SCD) Emergency Coordinator Ron Hashiro, AH6RH. Right after Oahu stopped shaking, Hashiro put out a call on the Honolulu 146.88 MHz repeater seeking reports.
"Other stations confirmed the violent shaking," he said. Hashiro started emergency operations on the Honolulu repeater, then proceeded to the inter-island 147.06 MHz repeater system and repeated the sequence. Hashiro, Robin Liu, AH6CP, and Mitch Pinkerton, KH6MP, arrived at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in short order, and RACES operations from KH6HPZ commenced within a half hour of the first earthquake. After checking into HF and VHF nets, ARRL Pacific Section Emergency Coordinator Kevin Bogan, AH6QO, responded to the SCD EOC.
Bogan said the primary focus was on the Big Island, where most damage occurred because the epicenter was so close. "Although buildings on Oahu suffered only minor structural damage, the biggest problem was the power outage due to generators for the island powering down as a safety precaution," he said. "Within minutes of the first earthquake, telephone calls on landline and many cell phone carriers were difficult due to congestion."
Hashiro said operators at the EOC rotated among the HF and VHF operating positions, running messages with the EOC operations desk and checking with staff on their various needs and concerns.
ARRL Pacific Section Manager Bob Schnieder, AH6J, told ARRL Headquarters that the Hawaii Emergency Net on 7088 kHz provided the main HF link in the earthquakes' aftermath. Communication around the Big Island was handled on 7095 kHz.
While the quakes compromised or knocked out cellular telephone service, Internet service remained largely available, and radio amateurs were able to take advantage of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) modes such as EchoLink and IRLP.
At Oahu Civil Defense Agency, RACES Coordinator Ray Moody, AH6LT, responded, while Adrian Ditucci, KH7GK, handled net control service duties from his home a few miles away, operating on battery power. APRS reports flowed into the EOC, Hashiro said.
Field Ops
Other Amateur Radio emergency communication volunteers did "the heavy lifting in the field," Hashiro said. "The key to their success was that they had varying degrees of portable and mobile capabilities with emergency power -- using VHF and HF," he said. "They were able to drive right to the scene and pass along assessments, status reports and messages through us, right into State CD operations."
"For example, Steve, WH6N, passed formal traffic on the condition of a hospital and the closure of a neighboring highway due to a landslide," Hashiro said. "AH6RR and KH7MS passed information on the condition and evacuation of Kona Community Hospital, while WH6WI updated us on the progress and availability of a 1000-person American Red Cross Shelter at the old Kailua-Kona airport."
Bogan said the training each area conducts along with weekly ARES Pacific Section drills paid off.
An Aftermath of Aftershocks
Dozens of tremors followed the initial quake, on the west side of the Island of Hawaii, which measured at 6.7 on the Richter scale. It was the first major earthquake in Hawaii in 20 years. A second quake measured 6.0, Bogan said, and there were many aftershocks. Hashiro says State CD RACES/ARES operations wrapped up at 5:20 PM, while Oahu RACES operations from KH6OCD ended at 10:55 PM. He reports upward of a dozen stations on the Big Island provided HF and VHF communication with SCD, while another seven radio amateurs were active on the island of Maui.
"We logged a total of 55 messages of varying levels of importance," Hashiro told ARRL. "Two were formal messages."
Hashiro said a number of stations comprising the healthcare communications -- HealthComm -- also were active. As a precaution, officials evacuated several hospitals in Hawaii until they could check the safety of the structures.
SATERN Activates
The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) activated for a
short time Sunday afternoon on 14.265 MHz to assist with emergency
communication in the aftermath of the earthquakes and aftershocks and to
handle health-and-welfare inquiries and traffic. SATERN volunteers Al and
Ann Shaver, NH2Z and WH2E, reported word of landslides on the highway
between Kona and Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.
"We both happened to be on our feet when the quake hit, and of course we felt it," the Shavers reported in a SATERN e-mail. "With the electricity off most of the day we were in the dark in more ways than one! How we missed using our, radios, television sets, computers and so many other gadgets which require it!"
Insult to Injury
As if to add insult to injury, an intense thunderstorm overnight knocked out all power on the Island of Hawaii, although electricity has been restored at least to some areas, said Schneider, who was in California attending the ARRL Pacific Division Convention when the earthquake struck. He cited a report from Assistant SM and Section Traffic Manager Ron Phillips, AH6HN, who lives on the Big Island.
Hashiro said his NOAA weather alert radio kept going off in the middle of the night because of the stormy weather, expected to continue until Friday.
"At the moment things seem to be under control," Schneider told ARRL Headquarters.
Joint Operation a Hawaii Hallmark
Hashiro says that unlike other some areas of the US, radio amateurs in Hawaii stress and believe in joint operation -- a collaboration of ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, HealthComm, the American Red Cross, Volunteers Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), and SATERN.
"We become one operation, one team to our emergency management
partners," he said. "We help each other out and work and
train together. That's the only way to operate; there's simply not enough
equipped, capable and available operators to go around. Isolated in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean, there's not a lot of missteps and mistakes we
can afford."
| Previous: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending October 16, 2006 | Next: ITU to Mark 100 Years of International Radio Regulations |
