Earthquake Preparedness
October 19, 2021 11:52 AM
by Lindsay B. Call
On October 21st at 10:21am, Californians across the state will participate in International ShakeOut Day, an annual opportunity to practice earthquake safety actions. Santa Monica’s Office of Emergency Management encourages all households and businesses to participate in the ShakeOut. Make October 21st a day to review your emergency plan, start or refresh a disaster kit, or even just practice the three easy earthquake safety steps – Drop, Cover, and Hold On. Learn more about the ShakeOut here.
Drop, Cover, Hold On
As soon as you feel an earthquake or receive an early earthquake alert, it’s critical to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” to protect yourself from serious injury during a major earthquake. DROP to the ground. Take COVER under a sturdy table or desk. HOLD ON to the table or desk so that it continues to shelter you throughout the earthquake.
During our daily lives, we spend much of the day away from tables and desks. It’s important to know what earthquake safety steps you need to take when driving a car, at night, or if you use a wheelchair. The ShakeOut's Earthquake Safety Video Series is a great tool to teach you and your family the safest thing to do once shaking begins.
Early Earthquake Warning
Earthquake Warning California is the nation’s first widely available statewide earthquake warning seconds. The alert is designed to give residents advanced notice, even seconds, to protect themselves before shaking begins. This tool is available through the MyShake App or all phones will receive a Wireless Emergency Alert for emergency situations during an earthquake of a magnitude 5.0 or higher or when the earthquake shaking intensity scale is at Level IV, indicating light shaking that will disturb indoor household items will be disturbed. When Californians receive an earthquake alert on their phone, they should Drop, Cover, and Hold On immediately to protect themselves before shaking starts.
To learn more about Earthquake Warning California and the MyShake App, visit earthquake.ca.gov.
Tsunami Impacts
A tsunami is a series of waves usually case by an undersea earthquake. A large earthquake on land can also cause a tsunami impacting the Santa Monica coastline. When you’re at the beach, if an earthquake occurs, immediately Drop, Cover, and Hold On. When shaking stops, immediately walk inland and out of the tsunami hazard zone. There are Tsunami hazard signs throughout the city, and these signs will help determine the best route to find safety. Every minute counts during these events. Walking or bicycling out of the hazard zone is the fastest way to ensure your immediate safety.
California Tsunami Hazard Maps have recently been updated. Search the LA County Tsunami Hazard Area Map to see if where you live, work, or play is in the tsunami zone so you know what to do after a large earthquake. Check out this National Weather Service Tsunami Preparedness video to learn more about tsunami warning signs.
Information After an Earthquake
After an earthquake, power and internet is not a guarantee. Often radios are the best way to get information from local news sources. After a major earthquake event, Santa Monica’s radio station KRSM 1680AM will broadcast local information updates as they become available. This radio station is designed to only be accessible when in the City limits and is best accessed using a radio outdoors or when in a car. To easily remember the station, it’s a good idea to label your emergency radio with this station so you don’t forget.
During the 2021 ShakeOut, Santa Monica will broadcast a ShakeOut drill message over the 1680AM radio station. Use this year’s ShakeOut as a time to test this important emergency communications tool.
Reduce Your Risk
Earthquake preparedness is a part of line in Southern California. Damage to vulnerable buildings, physical injury, and loss of life are the most apparent threats from earthquakes. City Council adopted the seismic retrofit ordinance in March 2017, to implement the Seismic Retrofit Program. The Program identified nearly 2,000 commercial and multi-family residential buildings in the City that were potentially seismically vulnerable and in need of possible structural retrofit.
Five different building types were targeted as part of the Program, and each building type is subject to its own timeframe for when retrofit work must be completed to be in compliance. To date, over 900 of the identified properties have either completed the required retrofit work or provided evidence of previous compliant retrofit work that had been completed.
For more information on the Seismic Retrofit Program, such as completion timeframes, and to explore a searchable map of affected properties, please visit - https://www.smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Programs/Seismic-Retrofit/
Thanks to our Santa Monica community for taking steps to be informed, prepared, and resilient in all emergency events.
Authored By
Lindsay B. Call
Chief Resilience Officer