Run for the hills, the big one is coming!
This news, though, shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who lives in Southern California; it is part of the package that comes with living here: sunrise, beaches and earthquakes.
“There is a 100 percent chance that a 6 or 7 magnitude earthquake will hit the southern portion of the San Andreas fault,” Joseph Holliday, earth science professor, said. “It is guranteed that we are going to have an earthquake and so few things in life are guaranteed.”
Some students are unfazed by the prospect of an earthquake of that magnitude.
“No, I don’t think it will be that bad; I remember the last earthquake in 1994 didn’t do any damage to my house,” Anahi Banda, architecture major, said.
This mentality seems to be prevalent among younger students.
“Many students will not understand how much potential damage could be caused by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake,” Lynn Fielding, earth science instructor, said.
“Everyone living in Southern California should be prepared for an earthquake,” she said.
The big concerns over earthquakes are not the earthquakes themselves, but the structures.
“It’s not that earthquakes are dangerous, it’s the old building, the old houses that are not prepared for earthquakes that cause most of the damage,” Holliday said.
The last major earthquake to hit the L.A. area was the 6.7 magnitude Northridge earthquake in 1994 that killed 57 people, injured more than 11,000 and caused an estimated $12.5 billion in damage.
“It’s been 14 years since we had our last major earthquake. A lot of students don’t remember it and so they don’t understand the severity of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake,” Holliday said.
Some important things to have in case of an earthquake includes a week’s worth of water along with a week’s worth of food that doesn’t need refrigeration. Students should also have a working flashlight, a first aid kit and a small supply of cash.
Students should not fear living in L.A.
“Just like people in Florida live with hurricanes and people in New York live with blizzards, we can live with earthquakes,” Holliday said.
