California earthquake should be Golden State’s wake-up call to prepare
Chuck Frank
If this isn’t a wake-up call to Californians to prepare for a future, devastating quake, then there will be no more.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the most recent temblor weighed in at a 5.9 magnitude.
Almost a month earlier on Jan. 9 a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the region and caused more than $40 million in damage with one serious injury—a woman who broke her hip.
Don’t be fooled, this was no aftershock, Steve Walter, a seismologist at the USGS in Menlo Park, Calif., told the Mercury News.
The News also reported that historic research shows California is at danger for massive earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude.
Granted this—historically—happens every 300 to 400 years.
Records, however, tracing back to 1769 show no earthquake reaching 9.0, but almost: In 1812, two 7.0-magnitude quakes rocked Santa Barbara and Wrightwood, Calif. Then in 1838, another 7.0 quake hit San Francisco. In 1868, a 7.0 magnitude struck Hayward fault. In 1872, a 7.6 hit Owens Valley, Calif. In 1899, a 7.0 west of Eureka, Calif. In 1906, the great 8.25-magnitude earthquake struck San Francisco. In 1922, a 7.3 hit west of Eureka. In 1923, a 7.2 in Cape Mendocino, Calif. In 1933, a 7.0 in the Colorado River delta. In 1940, a 7.1 in Imperial Valley, Calif. In 1952, a 7.7 in Kern County, Calif. In 1980, a 7.2 west of Eureka, Calif. In 1989, a 7.1 in Loma Prieta, Calif. In 1991, a 7.1 west of Crescent City, Calif. In 1992, a 7.2 in Cape Mendocino, Calif., and a 7.3 in Landers, Calif. In 1999, a 7.1 in Hector Mine, Calif. Then on Jan. 9, a 6.5 and now a 5.9.
If history is to repeat itself, the residents of California would be wise to listen.
Such a high magnitude quake as 7.0 or higher could cause severe destruction and death to a city. Haiti is a prime example.
Preparing and planning for quakes is no doubt part of the culture in California emergency management and government, but ordinary civilians must also take action by developing a Go Bag of essential supplies and being able to survive for at least 72 hours without help.
We’ve already seen the devastation in Haiti—the U.S. and the state of California cannot experience such a disarray.
Feb. 4, 2010
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