Who commutes or routinely travels across a toll bridge, an active fault, or across/in an area with large numbers of projected road closures? We depend on our roads to take us to work, to get home to our children, elderly, and pets, for supplies to be delivered to our business, and to take the products of our business to others. Our customers use this same network. Check each box where you are vulnerable, unless you have taken the suggested steps to minimize disruption!

MORE INFO NEEDED? After viewing maps of road disruption, close the map window to return here.

	Me (5 points)	If you or your employees are at work, have you planned for who is allowed to leave and when they are expected to return? If you or your employees are at home, have you planned for who will return to work and when? Do you know where your key employees live? Who is most likely to be able to return to work most easily? Who can work effectively at home?
	Other key employees (5 points)
	Customers (5 points)	How do your customers reach you? Do you depend on foot-traffic of shoppers, or are you located in a car-dependant area, or are your customers other businesses? How could you best reach customers if your business had to move?
	"Upstream" suppliers (5 points)	Have you arranged for alternative suppliers? Does your contract with suppliers stipulate allowable delivery delays?
	"Downstream" distributors of our products (5 points)	Have you arranged for alternative distribution procedures?

 

What is the liquefaction hazard in your area? Liquefaction is the tendency of some types of soils to behave like quicksand when shaken in an earthquake. ABAG's research on damage to lifelines, such as water lines, after the Loma Prieta earthquake showed that areas of higher liquefaction hazard were the same areas where lifelines were far more likely to be broken. Click on the most appropriate category unless you have taken the suggested steps to minimize disruption! Note that even areas of low hazard are still quite vulnerable to utility disruption for other reasons.

MORE INFO NEEDED? After viewing maps of liquefaction hazard, close the map window to return here.

	High (25 points)	How dependent is your business on electrical power, natural gas, water, and communications? Do you have a backup if these key utilities are disrupted? Have you worked with neighborhood business groups or industry councils to make joint plans and agreements to share key refridgeration, heating, or communications equipment to assist recovery?
	Moderate (19 points)
	Moderately Low (16 points)
	Very Low (15 points)

 

Is your building located in an area vulnerable to violent shaking? While the health of some businesses (particularly manufacturing facilities) is related to the structural strength of a single building, the health of most retail businesses is related to the health of the entire building stock in the general shopping area where the building is located, as well as the extent to which customers are affected. The single factor that best estimates these impacts is "shaking intenstiy." Click on the most appropriate category unless you have taken the suggested steps to minimize disruption!

MORE INFO NEEDED? Note that most of the Bay Area is likely to experience shaking of VIII, IX or X in at least one major earthquake. If you choose to view these shaking intensity maps, close the map window to return here.

	Shaking = VIII, IX, or X (Red, dark red, or black) = (25 points) (most of Bay Area)	Do you have contingency contracts for post-earthquake engineering evaluation of building safety? Do you store backups of vital records off site? Does your lease state who will be responsible for repair of building damage, or who will be responsible for paying rent on an alternative, temporary location? Have you worked with neighborhood business groups or industry councils to make joint plans and agreements for business space to assist recovery?
	Shaking = VII (Yellow) = (15 points)
	Shaking = V or VI (Green or blue) = (5 points)

 

How vulnerable is your accounting system? Check each box where you are vulnerable, unless you have taken the suggested steps to minimize disruption!

	Payroll (5 points)	Have you planned for how you will pay employees?
	Customers (5 points)	Do you have off-site lists of key customers, loans, and regular billers so that you can continue to receive critical payments?
	Suppliers (5 points)	Do you have off-site lists of key suppliers so that you can continue to make critical payments?
	Distributors (5 points)	Do you have off-site lists of key distributors so that you can continue to bill them and make critical payments?
	Utilities (5 points)	Have you made arrangements so that your accounting system is not vulnerable to power or communications disruptions?

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TOTAL POINTS

The more disruptions your business may experience, the more critical it is that you make sure that you have a business disruption plan and discuss it with your employees, suppliers, and distributors twice a year. You may find that using anniversaries of earthquakes to remind you to revisit your plan is useful - particularly because April (for the 1906 San Francisco quake) and October (for the 1989 Loma Prieta quake) are six months apart.