Quake Safety Plan Adopted by Supervisors

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a wide-ranging plan to help avoid earthquake damage in San Diego County and coordinate various agencies’ safety plans in the event of a quake.

“Although the San Diego region has been generally considered to be an area of low seismic risk with a low probability of a major earthquake occurring, several recent events have modified that perception,” said a report prepared by Daniel Eberle of the county’s Office of Disaster Preparedness.

“The swarm of earthquakes in the San Diego area this summer, the discovery of a new earthquake fault in downtown San Diego and the catastrophic earthquake in Mexico last month have increased the general awareness of and concern over the possibility of a locally damaging earthquake.

“The board has taken various actions over the past several years to improve seismic safety, but there is a need to provide closer coordination of those actions.”

The board also named Supervisor Susan Golding as chairwoman of a countywide Earthquake Awareness Committee and directed the county’s chief administrative officer to seek the inclusion of San Diego County in a statewide earthquake preparedness project.

The report stressed the need to better coordinate safety measures by various local, state and federal agencies, as well as their counterparts in Mexico.

According to the report, the county plan “establishes a framework under which specific seismic issues can be addressed.”

It outlined specific plans for San Diego County. Those approved by the board include:

- Incorporation of land-use policies promoting seismic safety in the San Diego County General Plan, a blueprint for future development in the county.

- Rigid enforcement of existing building regulations and codes “which reflect the highest level of seismic safety.”

- Identification of existing hazardous structures and the development of plans to upgrade them.

- Increased scientific identification of local earthquake hazards.

- Upgrading of warning systems used by various agencies.

- Establishment of a regional emergency operations center to coordinate the various agencies handling emergency situations.

The board also vowed to increase public education on earthquake risks and to make a “continuing effort” to better prepare individuals for a major quake.