DAVID KOB
Staff Writer
In 1994, an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale rocked Northridge, destroying three highway overpasses and left thousands homeless. Malibu and Los Angeles fault lines have quietly murmured, yielding mostly inaudible tremors, barely affecting the upstairs world. However, historical patterns between fault lines have developed the unsettling opinion among experts that Malibu is due for a quake.
Earthquakes occur when giant masses of rock that make up the earth’s surface strain against each other and suddenly fracture and slip, sending siesmic waves through the earth’s crust that erupts into violent shaking. This phenomena is most often experienced along geological faults, which are narrow ridges where rock masses meet and slide against one another.
In a presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Conference on Oct. 24 in Philadelphia, Lauren Seidman and Vince Cronin, Baylor University researchers of the Malibu and Santa Monica fault lines, said their seismology devices have shown alarming activity between faults.
“Focal mechanism solutions and field observations suggest that strain is partitioned between several active faults, including some with pure strike-slip displacements,” Seidman said in the presentation. Strains are signs of possible crustal deformation, which occurs near active faults before earthquakes.
Pepperdine sits directly on the Malibu Coast fault zone, which is roughly 21 miles long and runs north to south, eventually merging with the Santa Monica fault line. If an earthquake were to occur on one of these faults, Pepperdine could sustain damage.
Pepperdine is without a geology department. However, Dr. Gerry Simila of California State University at Northridge, an earthquake expert, has installed monitoring devices on Pepperdine’s campus. Adjunct professor Joe Green, a graduate student of Dr. Simila’s, is working on the Pepperdine campus with the earthquake monitoring devices.
“Unbeknownst to many, several earthquakes occur in southern California on a daily basis,” Green said. “However, most are not large enough to cause damage or even feel,”
The fault line solidifies Pepperdine’s susceptibility to a large earthquake. However, statistical data can predict, although sometimes inaccurately, if an earthquake will happen. Hence the suggestion that Los Angeles, and more importantly Malibu, is overdue for a big one.
“These recurrence intervals (referring to data printouts from faults) are statistical values and not absolute, but I can say for sure that a large earthquake will occur in the future,” Green said. If the earthquake occurs along the Malibu fault, Pepperdine could be greatly damaged.
If that was not reassuring enough, there are also several volatile faults underwater near Malibu.
“Earthquakes occur along faults within or bordering tectonic plates,” Green said. “These faults are nondiscriminatory whether they are on land or underwater.” Underwater earthquakes frequently cause tsunamis. Pepperdine students have long heard these warnings.
“Yes, I am worried about an earthquake on Pepperdine,” senior Nebeil Shaw said. “I am also worried about nuclear war. Can’t do much about an earthquake. Everyone knows they happen out here, and if one hits Pepperdine then well, the best thing you can hope for is to be next to a desk.”
According to the Seaver College Emergency Policies and Procedures pamphlet, in the event of an earthquake, individuals should move away from windows and position themselves under “something of sturdy construction,” such as a desk or a bed.
The official disaster preparedness plan for Pepperdine emergencies is on the Pepperdine Web site. There is also a campus volunteer Emergency Response Team that notifies building occupants, advising them of steps to take to ensure the safety and the security of persons and property, checks for hazardous conditions, and makes timely notifications to the emergency responders and Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
It is impossible to predict exactly when a big earthquake will hit, but recent activity in fault lines suggest that it could be soon, and more importantly, close. For more information on the history and current data of the Malibu fault line, go to http://www3.baylor.edu/~Vince_Cronin/Malibu/index.html.
For information on earthquake precautions and Los Angeles area data, go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/sca/. To see recent earthquake data, go to http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/Los_Angeles.htm.
11-02-2006
