In a location that hardly gets hit by earthquakes, people are the least bit worried. When a quake does happen, people are frightened but forget about it over the next 10 years before another hits. With that in mind, majority of the population in Los Angeles are not prepared for an 8.0 magnitude earthquake that will take down homes, skyscrapers and lives.
There have always been several earthquakes, major and minor, all throughout California. Parkfield is a village that falls directly on the central segment of the San Andreas Fault, which makes it a hot-spot for major earthquakes. The most recent earthquake to hit there had a magnitude of 6.0 in 2004. The thing to worry residents of California is that the fault line travels 100-miles up and down the state. Geologists have studied and estimated that a fatal earthquake can explode at any time.
Geologist Mary Lou Zoback and geophysicist Yuri Fialko have done studies on the plates below the San Andreas Fault to see how much they move past each other every year. However, the plates seem to be locked against each other on the Southern section of the fault. Due to the pressure and the motion under the plates, it creates a huge strain. Other than the major question of California being prepared, it is not specifically known when the shock will happen.
It has been estimated that the quake will hit within the next thirty years.It seems like more than enough time to secure homes and prepare emergency kits, but for all we know it can strike next week.
A drill has been done in Los Angeles only to find shocking outcomes about how our city would hold up. The conclusion came to 600,000 buildings being destroyed, 1,800 people killed, 50,000 injured, and water and electricity loss as long as six months.
Southern California is full of multilevel freeway overpasses, two-story schools, giant homes, and a ton of hills. Our city was not designed to withstand the impact of a giant earthquake. The government would have to spend millions of dollars, they do not have, in order to brace every home, school, road and company.
It takes a lot more to be prepared and safe than just knowing a quake will strike. California is not equipped to handle such catastrophes, so it is up to the citizens to prepare themselves and do all they can to protect their surroundings.
Children are learning fire drills in school so they know what to do the second they feel a shake. There are several Web sites that give on-going lists about how to make a home safe whether it comes from having locks on all cabinets to changing every glass window to a Plexiglas. It has been said throughout all media that a kit should be made beforehand filled with snacks, a blanket, flashlight and any necessary items in order to survive.
It needs to be repeated several times that California is not prepared for a disaster and one is expected to hit soon. Therefore, if anyone wants to survive complete danger they need to try. Try to their fullest extent because not the state, government, or the President can look out for every citizen when chaos has broken out.
