Gary Wallace, a leader of SAFE, also complained in 2006, "It is interesting that legislators are willing to spend $200 million to retrofit their own offices in the state Capitol. In California, after they even further strengthened their schools, then they did their Capitol building."

Vulnerable hospitals

Emergency planners back in 2006 were surprised at how much damage computer models predicted for hospitals and were reviewing then whether it was actually correct. But damage was serious when the 2008 quake hit.

The 2006 projections had said that of 38 hospitals in the region, 15 would suffer at least moderate damage — and four would be damaged beyond repair.

Carey had said in 2006 that as the computer model was being reviewed, it suggested that some hospitals were close to landslide areas and faults, and they suffered more damage than officials earlier figured they would.

As the model had predicted, only about a third of the hospital beds that had been available before the quake were also usable immediately afterward for patients already in the hospital along with the tens of thousands of people injured in the quake.

Projections estimated that after one week, 58 percent of the hospital beds would be back in service and that after 30 days, about 79 percent would be operational.

Falling bridges

Close to what computer models and Carey predicted in 2006, more than 450 highway bridges were at least moderately damaged in the 2008 quake area. That includes 140 that collapsed or were damaged beyond repair.

The old 2006 projections said that about 120 of those damaged bridges would be functional again within seven days.

David Eixenberger, deputy state bridge engineer, said in 2006 that the state had numerous emergency contracts in place before emergencies to allow needed repair work to begin almost immediately. He said the state had also practiced emergency procedures to identify damage quickly and prioritize recovery work.

Adding a special complication was that many bridges over the Jordan River failed because of "liquefaction" that made soils beneath them act like quicksand during the earthquake. Damage to them tended to cut Salt Lake County in half, making it difficult for the east and west halves to help each other.

Eixenberger in 2006, however, predicted that because the Jordan is so relatively narrow and shallow, engineers would quickly find creative ways to span it or fix bridges to allow emergency transportation.