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How to Inventory Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in Your Community and Guide Earthquake Risk Mitigation

The session will profile a recent pilot URM building inventory hosted by the Everett Downtown Association (EDA) in collaboration with the Department of Archeological and Historic Preservation (DAHP) and Emergency Management Division (EMD). We will also describe how other communities can initiate and complete their own URM building inventories.
This presentation represents an ongoing collaboration between the historic preservation and emergency management stakeholders on a proposed database and user portal for collecting and retrieving unreinforced masonry (URM) building data. When completed, the statewide URM building database and portal will result in agencies and the public having access to unique data on each URM building, which can be used to assess seismic risk, improve planning efforts, and connect stakeholders to mitigation resources. Communities at-risk from concentrations of unretrofitted URM structures will have access to information that will help with prioritizing emergency preparedness and response decisions and accessing seismic mitigation funding.


The presentation will include the following topics:

  • URM building database project, workgroup, workplan, goals and needs
  • Everett pilot survey of URM buildings, building data outreach, volunteer outreach techniques, event organization, results and long-term benefits
  • An “guiding” approach for organizing a URM building survey in your community

About the Presenters

Maximilian Dixon is the Hazards and Outreach Program Supervisor for the Washington State Military Department’s Emergency Management Division (WA EMD). He manages the Earthquake, Tsunami, Volcano, and Public Education and Outreach Programs and represents WA EMD as the subject matter expert and policy advisor on geological hazards and outreach issues. Maximilian is responsible for coordinating geological hazard risk reduction efforts between international, federal, state, tribal, and local partners. He is on the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) Coordinating Committee and the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) Steering Committee. Maximilian is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) and a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Leadership in Management. He received his bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees from the University of Washington.

Michelle Thompson is the Certified Local Government (CLG) Coordinator and Main Street Design Specialist for the State of Washington at the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP). Michelle has a serious soft spot for the underdog, whether it be people or buildings, and believes firmly that a tangible connection to the past supports a community’s healthy future. In her spare time, you can find her taking the back roads looking for buildings that time forgot.