A 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Guam in the early morning hours of October 13, causing a temporary island-wide power outage. No injuries and very little structural damage to buildings was reported. U.S. Geological Survey Physicist Paul Hattori said in the October 14 Pacific Daily News that it was the strongest earthquake to hit the island since the 7.5-magnitude temblor of August 1993.
The University of Guam’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library book stacks had recently been completely retrofitted with aluminum bracing. “Only a few thousand books vibrated off the stack shelves on the second floor of the library,” UOG Professor of Library Science Mark C. Goniwiecha told American Libraries, “unlike the 90,000 or so that bit the dust in 1993. I’m convinced that the quake-reinforced stacks helped keep most of the books on the shelves.”
Goniwiecha said that the library, including its online catalog and Internet resources, was open for business as usual the same day, using a backup generator it shares with two other buildings. “On backup power, only about half of the lights work,” he added, “so readers studied at tables near windows with sunlight.”
Posted October 22, 2001.