Earthquakes In Southern California

The San Andreas fault line has caused constant development nightmares for large urban areas such as San Francisco as well as the other cities built on top of it. Fault lines are one of the side effects of the earth’s tectonic plates shifting that can result in devastating earthquakes. Some of the most devastating earthquakes in our modern era have occurred along the San Andreas fault line due to a dense population. The most notable and destructive earthquake on the San Andreas fault line occurred in San Francisco in 1906. The reason this earthquake was so deadly was because of its magnitude and the city’s poor planning. This earthquake was a wakeup call for San Francisco and force the city to revolutionize its knowledge on earthquakes and how to protect their city. Today San Francisco is one of the most well prepared cities for an earthquake and has made great discoveries in earthquake safety measures. The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco has drastically changed how the city has developed its zoning and building code policies, and its earthquake research.

The San Francisco earthquake on April 18, 1906 was one of the most devastating earthquakes felt by a lot of states. At 5:15 am, this earthquake which registered at 8.25 on the Richter Scale shook San Francisco, California. The earthquake lasted less than a minute and it did a lot of destruction in that period of time. The most destructive part during the San Francisco earthquake was the fires which began after, as a result of the earthquake. The fires killed about 3,000 people and left 400,000 homeless (San Francisco Earthquake). The San Francisco earthquake epicenter was located near San Andreas fault and as a result, the damages caused by the earthquake was felt many miles along the San Andreas fault line. The city of San Francisco was known for its culture and economy, and because of the impact of the earthquake and fire, the city was in total disaster. Because of the magnitude of the earthquake and the amount of damage it did to the city of San Francisco, a lot of data and digital images have been collected so that it can be used for references and be displayed at its anniversary.

California’s unique geography as a state makes it a very appealing place to call home. From the odd east to west transverse San Gabriel mountain ranges of the Los Angeles Basin, to the bumpy coastal ranges of the Bay Area, any person can find a compatible topographic terrain to their liking. California may seem to be the perfect place to live with its ideal climate and extensive geographic features. However, due to California’s location over the shifting continental plates, coupled with its enormous and also multiple faults, at any time this great state can fall victim to a seismic disaster. After examining evidence from both Rong-Gong Lin’s II Los Angeles Times article of April 18, 2016 and the NOVA videos Killer Quake ( 2006), Earthquake (2007), as well as Geologic Journey II – Episode 3 (The Pacific Rim: Americas) – Part 3 (San Francisco) and The Great San Francisco Earthquake (American Experience ~ 2005), one can take a comparative account of the three major earthquakes of California’s past. Although each earthquake was very devastating on is own; the Great Quake 0f 1906, the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, and the NorthRidge quake of 1994 each amounted to an extensive forfeiture of property and life. Each of these earthquakes created much suffering and loss. It is imperative for each citizen of this great state to understand the damage that a California quake can actually do and be prepared; for the threat of one always looms.

Over more than 50 decades there has been multiple earthquakes that have been caused by the activity that takes place beneath and above the surface of the earth. For every earthquake there are various effects and consequences, these are generally not preventable but teachable moments. As we study and explore landforms we learn and better understand how today 's structures came about, what took place decades ago and where do we go from here. Thanks to the technology and inquiring minds we are able to study past events like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Alaska earthquake. In comparing these two events we can get an overview of what happened and better prepare ourselves for something like that in the future.

The earthquake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada, an area of approximately 200,000 square miles. The ground motion caused by the earthquake source is recorded by instruments called seismographs. The zigzag trace made by a seismograph, called a "seismogram," reflects the changing amplitude and frequency content of the ground shaking beneath the instrument (usgs.gov). Using seismograms, scientists can determine the time, the epicenter, the depth, and the type of faulting of an earthquake as well as estimate how much energy was released by it.

Imagine if you had to restart your life, new shelter, new job, new lifestyle. Well locals or people in the Philippines had to restart their life when an earthquake with an magnitude of 7.1 hit the country and destroyed people’s lives. The earthquake had a devastating 7.1 magnitude. The earthquake hit the Philippines on October 15th, 2013. The likely culprit of the earthquake was the East Bohol Fault because the two tectonic plates were sliding against each other and the creates an earthquake. Sadly, earthquake killed more than 90 people. Ports, schools, and airports were damaged. A hospital collapsed then that lead to a killing of 18 people. Children were also injured at sports complexes because people rushed the exits when the the ground started to shake. Lastly, 5 people were killed in a landslide that was triggered from the earthquake. What really matters though is how people respond to the

According to our textbook, it appears that an earthquake poses a greater threat to the Pacific Northwest than a volcano does. The text states that “California’s San Andreas Fault runs diagonally from southeast to northwest for nearly 800 miles.” In the lecture notes, it shows a diagram of the earthquakes that have occurred since 1977 along the Pacific coast, and the area is riddled with earthquakes. The likelihood of a massive scale earthquake occurring in the Pacific Northwest has been predicted; however, our lecture states that we are unable to predict an earthquake and are only able to gauge the probability of one occurring. Those who would be in harm’s way would be those people who fall within the Mercalli Intensity scale area, and those

In California, there are school programs that will help prepare the children for the disaster. Not just that, the program are placed to help them gain knowledge on the mechanism of natural disaster, to be specific an earthquake disaster. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Service (Cal OES) (2008), developed a program that

Thank you, Ms. Leona Graham (mayor), for the opportunity to provide an assessment report for Hazard City. This report will provide an assessment on structural damage of an Intensity IX earthquake, and emergency housing needs. It will also identify actions homeowners can use to help prevent future structural damages, and give more information on possible effects of an Intensity IX earthquake. The assessment report will identify danger of a failing dam, and provide further understanding of the elements which will include an emergency plan. The table that follows is an assessment of the number of people needing emergency housing due to an Intensity IX earthquake.

In order to survive during an earthquake, you must be very aware of how exactly to react and what to do in order to survive. The California Department of Public Health informs families to make a plan to evacuate their homes and find a safe place to go after the first sign of an earthquake (Earthquakes). This is the right thing to do, but people need to know where to go and how fast they need to act. Currently “California does not have an operational earthquake early warning system” (California Seismic Safety Commission) which could warn people when they need to evacuate before the earthquake even hits. I believe that the government of California needs to bring the early warning system back into their safety procedures. The government could also make clear where citizens from each county should go short term and long term in the case of an earthquake. Evacuation plans need to be made for when the earthquake is occurring when people need to find cover where nothing is going to fall on them. Plans for after the initial shaking need to be made as well, telling people to start heading inland toward surrounding states. This plan, however, requires the public to avoid driving over fault lines that could potentially move again. The San Andreas fault system is more than 800 miles long (Oskin), therefore people will need a set evacuation plan in order to know how to evacuate properly. The

Another influential factor that affects the degree of the hazard is where the epicentre is closer to a rural or urban area. Rural area tend to cope with earthquakes much better as there are less buildings that are likely to collapse and rural areas are typically sparsely populated, therefore a smaller amount of people are likely to be affected by the impacts of the earthquake. However, rural areas are less likely to have the infrastructure that could cope with the impacts of a serious earthquake whereas cities do, e.g. earthquake buildings. Many people in rural areas also have less knowledge of the impacts of earthquakes and may not know how to respond during or after the quake. In densely populated urban areas such as L’Aquila, Italy the effects of earthquakes can be much more detrimental as gas pipes can burst, habitats can be lost and thousands of buildings can be damaged. These in turn can have negative secondary affects for example in L’Aquila 70,000 people were made homeless and the bursting of gas pipes resulted in the spread of fire across the city, causing more damage.

The state of California is home to notorious fault lines such as the infamous San Andreas fault. In Northern California, there are six significant Bay Area active faults: Calaveras, Concord-Green Valley, Greenville, Hayward, Rodgers Creek, and San Gregorio Fault [1]. After the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, propagating from the Santa Cruz Mountains, caused approximately $6 Billion dollars in damages [2]. Many infrastructure agencies altered their design and operations standards to prepare themselves for the next major earthquake. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) and The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have made changes so above and below ground infrastructures are prepared to withstand potential damages from seismic

Earthquake Hazards occur when there are adverse effects on human activities. This can include surface faulting, ground shaking and liquefaction. In this essay I will be discussing the factors that affect earthquakes, whether human such as population density, urbanisation and earthquake mitigation or physical such as liquefaction, magnitude, landslides and proximity to the focus.

The San Andreas Fault is one of the most widely studied faults in the world. Scientists use an array of methods in collecting data and providing analysis of fault characteristics both past and present. Presently there are many differing hypothesis and models used to describe crustal movements and deformation within the Pacific and North American plate boundary. Historical earthquakes along this fault have proven to be rather large and devastating. This is important since the San Andreas Fault runs along many highly populated areas throughout Northern and Southern California. Through further research and analysis of this fault system scientists hope to solve

In the U.S. alone, the average annual cost to repair damage caused by earthquakes is $4.4 billion USD. The worldwide figure is much larger than this but unquantifiable due to poorer countries unable to accurately determine the amount of damage that occurred. Year after year the cost of damages barely fluctuates from these ridiculously high figures and money must be pumped into repairing the damage done. Although a lot is being learnt about earthquakes and the fact that humans are now normally able to be alerted in time to evacuate the area the earthquake will affect, there have been no breakthroughs into reducing the amount of damage earthquakes cause to buildings and infrastructures.