[NHCOLL-L:1805] Re: glass-topped insect drawers - earthquake risk?

[Doug Yanega]

Here in California's quake zone, we actually don't worry about the 
glass - the only way it's likely to shatter in such a way as to 
damage specimens is if the entire cabinet of drawers falls over - 
and, frankly, if an earthquake is bad enough that the entire cabinet 
topples, the specimens are going to be severely damaged whether the 
glass is shatter-proof or not. Basically, then, what we did is have 
EVERY cabinet bolted to the walls and/or floors so absolutely nothing 
will topple. Securing the cabinets this way costs some money, but 
it's several orders of magnitude cheaper than custom-ordering 5,000 
drawers with an added cost of 20 US$ per.

Sincerely,
-- 

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
            http://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82