AirTouch Cellular co-sponsors earthquake preparedness conference; Event marks first anniversary of Northridge disaster.IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 1995--AirTouch Cellular-Los Angeles is sponsoring "Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. : One Year Later...," a conference presented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical (FEMA FEMA, n.pr See Federal Emergency Management Agency. ) and the Governor's Office of Emergency Service, Jan. 17 through Jan. 20 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, Universal City. At this forum, scientists, emergency managers and California business and government leaders will exchange information, experiences and lessons learned from the Northridge earthquake and examine the state's future seismic risk Seismic risk takes the results of seismic hazard analysis, and calculates the 'follies of man'. Your safety depends on what you build. You can locate in a region of high seismic hazard, but still sleep fairly soundly at night if you have built to sound engineering principles. . AirTouch Cellular is one of five California-based companies to sponsor this national four-day gathering. The conference consists of workshops on hospital and communications response; lessons learned and the role of the private sector. Tours of damaged and rebuilt residential and commercial structures throughout affected areas, and a special tour and presentation at Rockwell International Rockwell International was the ultimate incarnation of a series of companies under the sphere of influence of Willard Rockwell, who had made his fortune after the invention and successful launch of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919. will also be conducted. At Cal State Northridge, conference organizers will stage a simulation of the immediate aftermath of an 8.0 earthquake, including hundreds of police and fire department personnel, the American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. , the Salvation Army, and volunteers. Governor Pete Wilson and Richard Witt, national director of FEMA will attend the event. Other corporate sponsors include Pacific Bell Information Services See Information Systems. , Universal Studios, Northrop and Great Western Bank. During the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, AirTouch Cellular's Significant Events Response Team (SERT SERT SSP (Space Solar Power) Exploratory Research and Technology SERT Serotonin Transporter SERT State Emergency Response Team SERT Special Emergency Response Team SERT Security Emergency Response Team SERT Student Emergency Response Team ) provided valuable communications support to relief agencies including FEMA, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La and local police departments. While the volume of AirTouch calls in the affected areas increased by more than 34 percent, normal service was maintained throughout the region due to the construction quality of the company's cell sites and microwave backbone. AirTouch's technicians responded to the disaster by immediately assessing damage and reinforcing facilities with channel additions and radio bays to handle changes and traffic increases. Representatives from AirTouch Cellular and the additional corporate sponsors will participate in a roundtable discussion on each company's perspective and experiences before and after the earthquake. AirTouch Cellular is a subsidiary of AirTouch Communications, formerly PacTel Corp. AirTouch Communications is involved in cellular, paging, vehicle location and international ventures in many of the world's top markets, including the United States, Japan, Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, South Korea and Thailand. The company, with headquarters in San Francisco, serves nearly 3.1 million customers worldwide. It was spun off from Pacific Telesis Group on April 1, 1994. CONTACT: AirTouch Cellular, Irvine Melissa May, 714/222-8781 or Bozell/SMS Dan Pittman, 714/708-9147 or Mary Reagan, 714/708-9245 |
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