The rationale for this approach was to identify the various functional areas of disaster response for which a Federal activity could reasonably be expected to maintain after the occurrence of the event. With the functional areas identified, the range of Federal agency talent was evaluated and Federal response capabilities matched to expected functional demands. By the development of a matrix (figure 2), a total of 16 functional response areas (such as transportation, mass care, and debris removal) were identified, and 20 Federal agencies, plus volunteer organizations such as the American National Red Cross, were designated as having appropriate disaster response capabilities. Subsequently, all agencies were rated on their capability for functioning in a principal or a support capacity. These agencies were then provided specific FEMA Region IX Mission Assignments or tasking statements which, when triggered by a Presidential disaster declaration, provide the legal basis for delivering the authorized assistance in response to State and local government needs. The end result of this approach has been to create a much more effective and reliable capability to respond to the needs of an earthquake disaster by those Federal agencies from which a significant response would be required. +----------+ |Basic Plan| . | (1) | . +----------+ . | | | . | | | . +-----------------+ | | +----------------------------|Contingency Plans| | | . | (4) | | | . +-----------------+ | | Administrative . Operational | | +-------------+ . | | |Direction and| . | | |Control Annex| . | | | (2) | . | | +-------------+ . | +------+------+ . | | | . | +-------+ +-------+ . +-----------------------+ | Staff | |Service| . | Service Support Plans | |Annexes| |Annexes|----------------------| (5) | | (3) | | (3) | . | Response Checklists | +-------+ +-------+ . | and SOP's (6) | . +-----------------------+ . | . | . | +--------------------+ |Resources Compendium|