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Earthquake Preparedness

In: Social Issues

Submitted By sonubibekar
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Director of Earthquake Preparedness, Los Angeles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
05th September 2012
Earthquake Preparedness
Los Angeles, California – Earthquakes usually occur without any warning given to public and has the capability of enormous destruction which could lead to severe loss of lives and huge destructions. Natural disasters like earthquakes-preparing ahead of time can help us to save lives, protect our property and increase the pace of recovery. There are few simple steps that should be followed for preparing for such natural calamities like earthquakes.
Southern California has a very high seismic activity. The San Andreas Fault is the largest and very famous fault in California. Because of a number of such faults, California is highly prone to earthquakes. In the past 100 years, there have been 4 major earthquakes in Los Angeles: Long Beach in 1933, San Fernando in 1971, Whittier Narrows in 1987 and the Northridge Quake in 1994. One of the most well-known earthquakes of California is the earthquake of San Fransisco in 1906. The magnitude of 7.8 collapsed the buildings in this region. Only after this quake, earthquake measuring instruments were developed and scientific techniques were created. The long beach earthquake very narrowly avoided a major disaster because of the timing. It could have led to severe life losses if it happened sometime before the actual one. In this area of Los Angeles, small tremors are always felt. The greatest Southern California earthquake was the Fort Tejon Earthquake on January 9, 1857. On the Richter scale, the magnitude was 8.0. Because of sparse population during those times, the damage was not that severe. But the effects were too frightening. If similar earthquake happened in today’s world in that region, it could lead to loss of billions of dollars and huge number of human life losses. Near the 1857 area that was

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