Plan for the Big One Now

When earthquake disaster of almost inconceivable proportions hits some distant part of the world--such as Turkey, devastated this week--Californians tend to wrap themselves in hasty reassurances. Quake-ravaged nations usually were rife with spotty building standards and old structures and had tenuous emergency plans and few resources. California is the cutting edge in scientific and technological preparedness and its residents are seasoned in disaster.

But really prepared? No. Ask, for example, what would happen if your neighborhood was isolated for two or three days by destroyed roads or fires. What would you do if it was impossible to get to the hospitals that were left standing? What if emergency shelters were inaccessible? Who would maintain order? Those are essential questions, but few communities have answers.

Of course, a magnitude 7.4 temblor like Turkey’s would strike buildings here that have been built to far more advanced design standards. But earthquakes can be as unpredictable in the damage they cause as a tornado that demolishes two adjacent homes and leaves a third untouched. Los Angeles’ underground geology, for example, is something that geologists and seismologists are trying mightily to map and understand. They don’t have the answers yet. At best, current technology will quickly tell scientists where the worst shaking has occurred, so emergency crews can be directed to where they may be needed most.

Beyond that, it’s time to resurrect an idea that faded shortly after the “moderate” 6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994: Communities should prepare for such a crisis.

The infrastructure for this is already in place. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides important information through its “Project Impact: Building a Disaster Resistant Community.” Local fire departments are a font of similar information, as is the American Red Cross. This is not a concept that has to wallow its way through a local government bureaucracy. All it takes is some initiative. It can work through existing civic associations, including Neighborhood Watch groups and churches.

Peggy Brutsche, director of disaster services for the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross, has some tips on what to emphasize. Learn, for example, who in your community has special skills or resources: Who are the doctors, nurses and law enforcement officers who may be your sole source of medical help and peacekeeping until help arrives? Who owns four-wheel-drive vehicles? Who are the ham radio operators? What neighbors are skilled carpenters or veteran outdoors people who can assist those made homeless?

At some point an equally powerful earthquake will strike this region. Preparation for that day goes beyond family and home and business. Communities will suffer more or less based on the strength of their pooled talents. The time to get started on this is now.