Earthquakes - Are You Prepared?

Ah, a day without a Riggy story is like a day with a cloudless, sunny sky!

7.2 MEXICAN QUAKE
Much of the regional news lately has revolved around earthquakes. More specifically, the discussions have been about the 7.2 earthquake just below the California/Mexico border near Mexicali. Although we've seen some photos of extreme damage, folks seem generally to feel that we, on this side of the border, got off lucky on this one - especially when compared to the recent Haiti quake.

KEEPING TRACK...
I've been keeping track of the earthquake activity in the area since the Mexican quake hit. I've linked to the USGS site on the right side of the page, so you can keep track, too. Last week, for example, the map similar to the one you see below showed over 3500 earthquakes, ranging in size from the 7.2 down to hundreds in the 1-2 point range on the Richter Scale.

YOU'LL LOVE THIS!
Here's an interesting exercise for you. First, click on this link, HERE, and it will take you to a page that looks like this one:

CLICK ON "START ANIMATION"
Once there, click on the "Start Animation" button and sit back and watch as you will see what kind of earthquakes we've had in California/Nevada in the past week or so. It's entertaining and very, very scary!

RESOURCES AVAILABLE
After you've viewed that animation I suspect you'll be giving some thought to just how prepared you are - or are not - in the event of a natural disaster like an earthquake. Well, we have some resources for you on that subject.

SEVEN STEPS...
Click HERE to go the page entitled "Seven Steps To Earthquake Safety". Once there you can scroll down and find additional links that will guide you through the steps you need to take to prepare for a disaster, to protect yourself when it happens and how to recover from such an event. You will find tools to help you make a disaster kit, how to access your home for safety concerns, and how to formulate an emergency survival program.

TIME TO STOP TALKING AND TAKE ACTION!
We all talk about earthquake preparedness but seldom do much about it. Even though our building codes will likely preclude our neighborhoods from looking like Port au Prince following Haiti's earthquake, the damage a 7+ shaker can cause in our region cannot be overlooked. Since we have a major fault running right under us - the Newport-Inglewood Fault (which runs from roughly LAX to Dana Point, through Wilmington, Long Beach, Huntington Beach and down the center of Newport Harbor) - we simply cannot ignore the possibility of a serious earthquake event along that fault. I've written about that possibility before, HERE. I plan to continue to nag you about this from time-to-time, just to provoke you into getting you and your families prepared - just in case.