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Editorial: Napa quake a wake-up call for Southern California

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Cellar worker Adam Craig, 36, of Napa works to clear the rubble at the Kieu Hoang Winery, one of several in the area that were damaged by the earthquake.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Cellar workers work to clean up the Kieu Hoang Winery, one of several in the area that were damaged by the 6.0 temblor.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Vickie Katsubayashi looks at a red-tagged home near downtown Napa.   (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A home in Napa was damaged by Sunday’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake.  (Alvin Jornada / EPA)
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A crack in the pavement cuts across a street in a neighborhood of Napa that was affected by Sunday’s quake.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Bay Area Home Depot employees join a volunteer cleanup effort in downtown Napa.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Bay Area Home Depot employees help with volunteer cleanup efforts in downtown Napa.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Four homes at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park in Napa were destroyed by a fire triggered by the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck early Sunday. Two other homes were badly charred by the fire, while many were knocked off their foundations by the temblor.   (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Karl Luchsinger recovers a child’s car seat from a vehicle after a carport collapsed in the Napa earthquake.  (Josh Edelson / AFP Getty Images)
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Gin Betourne, 56, uses a candle for light after a 6.0 quake caused a power outage in her Napa, Calif., neighborhood. The quake damaged the chimney in the house she has lived in for six months.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Maria Hanks, 50, and her husband Brad, 53, sit in candlelight after spending much of the day cleaning up the damage around their house. They lost power after a 6.0 quake struck and it had still not come back on by nightfall on Sunday evening.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Cars sit under a carport at Charter Oaks Apartments in Napa that collapsed in Sunday’s earthquake.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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The remains of one of four mobile homes destroyed by fire at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park in Napa after the earthquake. The community was left without water and power.   (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Phil Tessier of Napa helps Tim and Ann Whitlock move out of their home on Twin Oaks Drive after it was heavily damaged by the quake. About 100 people from their church, Grace Church of Napa, pitched in. “Who says you can’t move in six hours? It can be done,” Ann Whitlock said.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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One of the mobile homes destroyed by fire at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park in Napa.   (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Scott Whitlock walks on a stretch of buckled sidewalk while helping his parents move out of their damaged home in Napa.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Dan Kavarian, chief building official for the city of Napa, walks around the downtown area red-tagging building that were deemed unsafe after a 6.0 earthquake hit the area early Sunday. The quake damaged several buildings and caused several injuries.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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A 6.0 earthquake sent bricks falling from a Napa business onto a car early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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People gather in downtown Napa to view the damage to buildings from a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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A close-up view of damage to a building caused by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Dan Kavarian, chief building official for the city of Napa, posts a yellow tag allowing limited access on a building damaged in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Windows at the post office in downtown Napa were shattered in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Bricks that fell from a building in Napa caused substantial damage to a car parked next to it during a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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The post office in downtown Napa suffered damage to its brick walls and windows in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday.   (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Gurbeer Singh cleans up fallen merchandise at a 7-Eleven store in American Canyon, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake.  (Ben Margot / Associated Press)
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With spilled wine covering the floor, winemaker Tom Montgomery views damage caused by Sunday’s earthquake at B.R. Cohn Winery’s barrel storage facility in Napa, Calif.  (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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Steve Brody inspects damage to his mobile home in Napa, Calif., after Sunday’s magnitude-6.0 earthquake.  (Ben Margot / Associated Press)
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Bottles are strewn on the floor of the Bloom Hair Salon in Napa, Calif., after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake centered nearby.  (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)
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A home in Napa, Calif., that was badly damaged in the earthquake.  (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)
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A Napa, Calif., building housing a tasting room suffered significant damage in the earthquake.  (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)
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Broken bottles lie on the floor of an oil and vinegar store in Napa, Calif., after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake centered nearby.  (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)
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Napa County, Calif., firefighters spray foam on hot spots from a fire at a mobile home park in Napa after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake.  (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
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Jean Meehan looks over the damage to her JHM Stamp and Collectibles store in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake.  (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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A building in Napa, Calif., is badly damaged after a 6.0 earthquake.  (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
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Police officers exit a damaged building in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake.  (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
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A woman looks at the damaged windows of the main post office in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s earthquake.   (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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The top corner of a building is exposed after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake centered near Napa, Calif.   (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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Bricks and fallen rubble cover a car parked near the old courthouse in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 quake.   (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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Bricks can be seen in the street after a building was damaged during Sunday morning’s earthquake centered near Napa, Calif.   (Ellen Knickmeyer / Associated Press)
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Residents survey the damage to a historic building in downtown Napa after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area at 3:20 a.m.  (Peter DaSilva / EPA)
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Store owners stand near broken glass in downtown Napa, Calif., after a 6.0 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area early Sunday.  (Peter DaSilva / EPA)
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Residents survey the damage to buildings in downtown Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 quake.  (Peter DaSilva / EPA)
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A man sweeps broken glass from store windows in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake.  (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
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A resident checks out damage to a building at 3rd and Brown streets in Napa, Calif., after Sunday’s 6.0 quake.   (Lyall Davenport / Associated Press)
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A CHP officer directs traffic away from a buckled section of California 12 after Sunday’s quake, which was centered near Napa.   (Peter DaSilva / EPA)
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Napa, Calif., residents in bathrobes check out damage on their street after Sunday’s quake.   (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
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Caltrans crews assess damage to a California 37 overpass in Vallejo after Sunday morning’s 6.0 quake.  (Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times)
By The Times Editorial Board
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The 6.0 earthquake that rattled Napa on Sunday morning should remind Los Angeles city officials and residents to take stock of their preparations for the bigger earthquake that someday will roil Southern California.

To their credit, city officials are approaching this with more urgency than they were a year ago. An inventory of soft-story wood-frame apartment buildings that may be vulnerable to collapse in a quake is well underway, and similar efforts to identify concrete buildings that need retrofitting should be close behind.

In Napa, 90 water mains broke. In Los Angeles, that kind of damage could hamper firefighters and cut off water for days. However, there are pilot projects underway here to install seismic-resistant water pipes developed in Japan. Figuring out how to protect water mains must be a top priority, says seismologist Lucy Jones, whom Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed this year as his advisor for seismic safety.

In the area of communications, Jones believes the city’s cellphone towers are generally strong enough to withstand a quake and not collapse onto people. The bigger question is what it will take to keep cellphone service from collapsing.

She is preparing a comprehensive seismic study for the mayor that should be completed in October and should allow the region to evaluate its readiness. Residents should do the same. As Jones notes, however much water you have tucked away at home, you need more.

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The Los Angeles Times’ editorial board determines the positions of The Times as an institution. It operates separately from the newsroom. You can read more about the board’s mission and its members at About The Times Editorial Board.

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