Isn\u2019t it safer to just run outside?<\/p>\n
Some people might instinctually want to run outside when the shaking starts. But there are reasons why that\u2019s not the preferred response in California. <\/p>\n
One of the most dangerous places to be in an earthquake is just outside a building, where you could be hit by falling glass or bricks. Brick buildings in particular tend to fall outward<\/a>, so running out of one during an earthquake could be particularly risky, structural engineers say. <\/p>\n During the 1989 magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta and 1994 magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquakes \u2014 California\u2019s last two major seismic events that struck heavily populated areas \u2014 about 50% of the injuries reported were caused by things falling on people, Lancaster said.<\/p>\n Dropping to the ground under something like a table and staying stationary helps protect you from falling objects. Studies from the Loma Prieta and Northridge quakes \u201crevealed that you\u2019re twice as likely to be injured in an earthquake if you\u2019re inside and you\u2019re moving around,\u201d according to Sara McBride, the executive director of the California Seismic Safety Commission. <\/p>\n \u201cMost injuries that were recorded and sustained and treated for were for movement-based injury, because people were moving around trying to do things,\u201d McBride said during the webinar. <\/p>\n Studies in other nations that have a similar building stock to California, like New Zealand, confirm that \u201cdrop, cover and hold on\u201d is generally \u201cthe best protective action for most, but not all, situations,\u201d McBride said. <\/p>\n Studies suggest that the reasons why people might not follow that mantra is they could be embarrassed to do so, or because they\u2019re caring for children and want to help them first. <\/p>\n But there are a number of examples where running isn\u2019t the best option. During the Northridge quake, a mom in Rancho Cucamonga died after she raced to check on her child and struck<\/a> her head on the crib. <\/p>\n Is there any way to get warned of a quake before I feel the shaking?<\/p>\n There\u2019s a free app available for iOS and Android devices called MyShake<\/a>, which was developed by UC Berkeley and is provided in partnership with the California Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services. <\/p>\n MyShake receives messages from ShakeAlert, the U.S. Geological Survey\u2019s early warning system. For people a bit farther from a quake\u2019s epicenter, the system uses the lightning speed of today\u2019s telecommunications system to send an early warning of incoming shaking, which moves at the slower speed of sound in rock. <\/p>\n Many users can get pivotal seconds of warning that shaking is incoming, or at least confirmation that what they are already feeling is in fact an earthquake. That can give people time to drop, cover and hold on, or take other appropriate action, like setting down a kitchen knife. <\/p>\n How should I secure my home?<\/p>\n Head to the hardware store and look for ways to properly strap bookcases<\/a> to walls, find quake-friendly ways of hanging glass picture frames<\/a>, and secure TVs<\/a> to the wall so they don\u2019t tip over in an earthquake. <\/p>\n Water heaters<\/a> are also important to properly strap down, as doing so reduces the risk of a fire.<\/p>\n You should also check to see if your home or apartment needs a retrofit. <\/p>\n There\u2019s a common type of defect in many older California homes \u2014 particularly those built before 1979 that have a handful of steps above the ground. <\/p>\n They are at risk because they\u2019re attached to the foundation by a short flimsy wall known as a \u201ccripple wall,\u201d which leaves the house<\/a> vulnerable to snapping off the foundation when shaken. Fixing this issue costs about $5,000 in Southern California and $6,000 in Northern California.<\/p>\n Grants are available through the California Residential Mitigation Program to help offset the cost of this type of retrofit. The registration period deadline has been extended to Friday. Applications can be filed at earthquakebracebolt.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n A house in Fillmore sits askew six months after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, having slid off its foundation.<\/p>\n (Joe Pugliese \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Owners can apply for up to $3,000 in grant funding. For the first time, the program is now allowing owners to get funding for homes that they rent, \u201callowing landlords to apply for this retrofit grant opportunity for their investment properties,\u201d according to the program.<\/p>\n Apartment owners should also look to see if their buildings need a retrofit. Many in California are seismically flimsy \u201csoft-story\u201d apartment buildings<\/a>. <\/p>\n The term applies to apartment buildings<\/a> built decades ago in which the bottom floor has room for a carport, garage or retail shop. In these buildings, the ground floor can be held up by flimsy, skinny poles that can collapse when shaken side-to-side in an earthquake.<\/p>\n The ground floor of a \u201csoft-story\u201d apartment building can collapse when shaken from side to side. The supports of these buildings are too flimsy to withstand side-to-side shaking in an earthquake.<\/p>\n (Raoul Ra\u00f1oa \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n See if you live in a tsunami hazard zone<\/p>\n California\u2019s recent brushes with tsunami warnings have led officials to reiterate the need for residents to know if they live, work or otherwise frequent hazard zones<\/a>. <\/p>\n Where are California\u2019s tsunami hazard zones?<\/p>\n Tsunami hazard zones can extend to bayside and riverside areas relatively far from the Pacific coast.<\/p>\n Zoom in and move the map to see the state\u2019s tsunami hazard areas<\/b><\/p>\n The California Geological Survey has a map showing the zones, and knowing if you frequent any of them can help you mentally prepare for the need to evacuate should a tsunami warning sound<\/a>. Importantly, knowing now can also let you know if it\u2019s even necessary to evacuate. <\/p>\n During a recent tsunami warning, some residents in Northern California living in coastal areas \u2014 but at an elevation high enough to be safe from any tsunami \u2014 unnecessarily evacuated, and actually fled into lower-lying areas that were at risk for flooding. <\/p>\n In other areas, such as in Berkeley, some residents mistakenly thought it was impossible for a tsunami to enter San Francisco Bay, and argued against following city evacuation orders. <\/p>\n Experts say there is more work to do in educating people about tsunami risk. <\/p>\n What makes California so exposed to earthquakes?<\/p>\n The same geological forces that have helped shape California\u2019s dramatic mountains and shoreline \u2014 letting us ski and surf on the same day \u2014 are the same as those that pose future seismic risk. <\/p>\n Despite its notoriety, California actually is the second-most seismically active state in the nation \u2014 Alaska is No. 1 \u2014 \u201cbut because we have about 40 million people in the state, we are No. 1 in seismic risk,\u201d Lancaster said. A single earthquake in California could potentially cost hundreds of billions of dollars. <\/p>\n And the last mega-earthquakes \u2014 those on the scale of magnitude 7.8 or 7.9 \u2014 haven\u2019t happened in modern times. The last earthquake of that magnitude struck Northern California in 1906, destroying much of San Francisco<\/a>. An earlier one rocked Central California and Southern California in 1857, when the region was<\/a> still sparsely populated. <\/p>\n Small earthquakes preceded a large earthquake on the San Andreas fault in 1857, estimated at magnitude 7.8 or 7.9. <\/p>\n (Raoul Ra\u00f1oa \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Areas that can experience the most devastating shaking in earthquakes are generally areas right along California\u2019s active faults, Bohon said. That includes places in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the California Geological Survey\u2019s updated map<\/a> of earthquake shaking potential.<\/p>\n What are officials doing?<\/p>\n California is working to better prepare itself against earthquakes. On Wednesday, the California Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services broke ground on a new campus in Costa Mesa to act as a headquarters for Southern California disasters and emergencies. The office\u2019s current headquarters is in Mather, just outside of Sacramento. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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