By Sarah Carrillo and Diana Htoo
Staff Writers
Living in Southern California, there is a constant fear of earthquakes. They can happen any time of year, any time of day and there is no warning beforehand. As the Southern California Earthquake Center Web site says: “Every day is ‘earthquake season.'”
There are thousands of earthquakes every year in California and contrary to popular belief, hardly any occur along the famed San Andreas Fault, according to SCEC. There are four major fault lines in Southern California: The San Jacinto, Elsinore, Imperial and San Andreas. However, the Northridge quake of 1994 showed that some faults have yet to be discovered.
All earthquakes occur along a fault line and are the result of friction. When two of the earth’s plates slip from side-to-side along the fault line, friction occurs and energy is released in the form of an earthquake. During an earthquake this initial friction usually occurs at one point, a hypocenter, deep down in the earth’s crust. The epicenter is the point on the surface directly above the hypocenter.
Seismic networks set up throughout the country measure earthquakes. They are usually measured by magnitude in terms of the Richter Scale, although scientists are now using a new measurement called moment magnitude. This allows scientists to compare all earthquakes on the same scale and can be used to measure old and new earthquakes.
In addition to the shaking and rolling of earthquakes, which can damage building structures and cause the contents of your house to end up on the floor, earthquakes can bring about other dangers as well. Due to gas leaks and electrical problems, fires often accompany earthquakes. Mudslides are common in the aftermath of a quake as well, especially in areas such as Malibu.
“You can’t plan mother nature,” Pepperdine Fire Department Captain Cash Reed said. Reed has worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and now he helps train other firefighters for disasters such as earthquakes. “You may see large chunks of land slide off … an earthquake could cause mudslides.”
As further warning, Reed said, “Be aware that there will be aftershocks.”
Reed said this area of Southern California has not had a major earthquake since the Northridge quake in 1994 and so it is due for one. However, the fact that an earthquake will almost definitely take place in the future does not need to constantly loom over Southern California residents’ heads. There are many steps residents can take to prepare for an earthquake so that when the big one hits they will be ready.
One of the first and easiest steps is to prepare an earthquake kit for your home and car. Brad Davis, an emergency preparedness director for Malibu, said it is important to have plenty of water on hand – about one gallon per person per day, with a minimum three-day supply. It is also good to have a change of clothes and extra medication your family may need.
FEMA supplies a list on its Web site of all the supplies for a comprehensive home earthquake kit. The supplies include: a portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra batteries, flashlight and extra batteries, first aid kit and first aid manual, prescription medications, credit card and cash, personal identification, an extra set of car keys, matches in a waterproof container, signal flare, map of the area and phone numbers of places you could go and any special needs your family may have. There are also other supplies needed in case of an evacuation, such as water, non-perishable food, clothing and shoes, tools, hygiene items (toothbrush, toilet paper), and entertainment items.
FEMA also recommends that all these supplies be kept in an easily accessible area so after an earthquake the kit can be easily retrieved. Similar supplies should be kept in the trunk of your car in case an earthquake strikes while out on the road.
In addition to preparing a kit, Reed said everyone should look through their homes and make sure that items on shelves are secure and any dangers, such as heavy objects hanging over beds, are removed.
The SCEC outlines several areas in the home that could potentially be dangerous during an earthquake. One is cabinets in the kitchen, which can fly open and cause dishes to crash on the floor. This problem can be solved with child latches on the cabinets. Another is heavy electronic equipment like televisions and computers. These can be secured to the wall with nylon straps.
Other parts of a building that one should be mindful of and avoid during an earthquake are its windows, facades and architectural details. The SCEC handbook for earthquake preparedness said, “to stay away from this danger zone, stay inside if you are inside and outside if you are outside.”
Reed also said it is important to keep rooms tidy and make sure there is a path to the door. At Pepperdine, Resident Advisors could make sure that the furniture and students’ belongings in the rooms are secure.
Apart from taking the effort to ensure one’s home or dormitory is as quake-safe as it can be, Davis said that there are classes that Malibu residents can take to learn what to do before, during and after an earthquake. “It’s important to take some form of emergency preparedness training. There are a lot of people who are prepared and also some who are not.” Davis said. “Every homeowner should be trained.”
For those whose level of earthquake preparedness is limited to knowing how to “duck, cover and hold,” the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Malibu offers free classes four times a year that teach first aid skills, CPR, medical operations and how to operate a fire extinguisher.
Being prepared and self-sufficient is particularly vital here because Malibu is a contract city. In other words the city, according to Davis, does not own its own fire or police department.
“We contract them,” Davis said. “That is why it is important to know the skills, because there is only so much we (FEMA) – and the fire department – can do. And in more advanced disasters, we have to look to the county for emergency relief.”
So what exactly should Pepperdine students do when the earth starts to shake and tremble? “Crawl under a desk or a table,” Reed said. “If you have a small extinguisher, use it to put fires out.” Students should clear the room as soon as the tremors stop and gather at the designated areas on campus that are free from telephone poles and other hazardous infrastructure.
Safety aside, the next most important thing, according to Reed, is accountability. Students should check in through phones as soon as they can to let their family or friends know they are safe.
“Call relatives, loved ones,” Reed said. “Let somebody know you’re okay.” The reason for that, as Reed explained, is because Public Safety and emergency relief staff will be looking in buildings to find students. “This makes our job so much quicker,” he said.
No matter how likely the earthquakes are said to occur in California, earthquakes do not give Pepperdine students great cause for concern. With the recent Asian tsunami disaster especially, discussions about earthquakes at present tend to focus more on Indonesia than elsewhere. However, it is important that Californians bear in mind that earthquakes are an unavoidable part of life here too.
05-15-2005