Long Beach-area residents and schools encouraged to start prepping for ‘The Big One’

Southern California is due for a major earthquake, one that may knock out power for days and cause widespread destruction, according to emergency-preparedness officials and experts, who alerted Long Beach-area residents and schools to start preparing for “The Big One.”
It was almost two decades ago when the 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake devastated the greater Los Angeles area, collapsing freeways, crumbling buildings and killing about 60 people. The earthquake that occurred on Jan. 17, 1994 at about 4:30am was the first major quake to strike “directly under an urban area of the United States” since the 6.4-magnitude 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which ruptured from the Newport-Inglewood fault zone and resulted in nearly 120 deaths and millions of dollars in damage, according to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center at Caltech.
The question now isn’t if “The Big One” will hit, but when, said local public safety and emergency-preparedness officials who advised Long Beach residents last week on how to make disaster kits, coordinate emergency plans and get involved to prepare for a disaster.
“It’s actually just a matter of time,” said 5th District Long Beach City Councilmember Gerrie Schipske, who hosted the emergency-preparedness roundtable on Oct. 10 at the Long Beach Gas & Oil Department’s headquarters at 2400 E. Spring St.
The event was coordinated in conjunction with the fifth annual Great California ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake drill that took place yesterday, Oct. 18, at exactly 10:18am, when millions of people practiced the state’s “Drop, Cover and Hold On” safety procedure. Schools in Long Beach and Signal Hill also participated in the drill.
According to the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, released in 2008, there is a 99.7-percent chance that a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake will hit California by 2037. The forecast also predicts that, out of all faults in the state, the San Andreas Fault in Southern California has the highest probability (59 percent) for causing such an earthquake during that timeframe. More recent studies conclude that the San Andreas has the capability to produce a magnitude 7.8 or larger earthquake.
But what exactly should one do in an earthquake? According to Long Beach Fire Chief Mike DuRee, “it depends” if you’re at home, at work or in transit. But the safest thing to do, he said, is to stay inside and seek cover under something hard and stable, such as a desk. “The chances of being hit by something falling when you run outside of your house or business is greater than if you stay put,” DuRee said, adding that it is no longer recommended to seek shelter under doorways.
In a 50-square-mile city with a population of just under 500,000 people, Long Beach residents should be prepared for slower public-safety response times than normal during a widespread disaster. Although the Long Beach Fire Department currently has four fire trucks, eight paramedic rescue ambulances and eight basic-life-support ambulances, emergency responses will have to be prioritized, explained DuRee.
“I can tell you, if we have a widespread natural disaster where there is damage to buildings and people are hurt, we’re not going to be able to respond in the same way that we have,” he said.
In such a scenario, residents should be prepared to be “self-reliant” with supplies able to last at least seven days since available resources will most likely be spread thin, said Ian Whyte, emergency services officer and COO of American Red Cross Greater Long Beach and Rio Hondo Chapters. “It’s better you don’t have to come to our shelter ! and you’re already ahead of the game,” he said, adding that residents should be prepared to survive days without electricity, natural gas or cell phones.