Check out how safe are our hospitals

The Napa River in Napa, California, as viewed from COPIA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the wake of the Napa earthquake, attention is now being turned again to how safe are our local hospitals. Legislation requires hospitals to retrofit. Some have. Some have not due to the high costs.

This article details the list of California hospitals and shows the status of needed retrofitting.

Check it out.
http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2014/08/30/how-will-your-hospital-fare-in-the-next-earthquake/

If you want you can skip directly to the listing of all hospitals just click the link: http://oshpd.ca.gov/FDD/seismic_compliance/SB1953/ExtensionRequests.pdf

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Chimneys most vulnerable during earthquake

English: Earthquake damage Close-up of the damaged chimney stack at 26 Ashcroft Road http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/708670 after the earthquake of 27th February 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you have a fireplace and many of us do, you need to check your chimney to make certain that it can withstand the big earthquake.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle notes that chimney failure is the most common damage in an earthquake. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chimney-failure-most-common-damage-in-an-5722587.php

Many chimneys failed in the Napa earthquake, including one that collapsed on a teen age boy.

So get your chimneys checked out and get ready, Long Beach.

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Northern California hit with 6.0 Earthquake

USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. Light gray areas are heavily urbanized regions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Northern California near Napa Valley Sunday, injuring at least 120 — 3 critically — and causing extensive damage, including fires sparked by burst gas lines, in the largest tremor to rock the Bay Area since the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta quake in 1989.

Leslie Gordon of the U.S. Geological Survey says the tremor struck just before 3:30 a.m. Sunday local time, about 10 miles northwest of American Canyon, which is about 6 miles southwest of Napa.

Hello. A 6.0 earthquake hit northern California this morning. Lots of damage. 89 people reported hurt. Some critically.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/24/usgs-60-magnitude-earthquake-shakes-northern-california/

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Long Beach to Be Test Site for Earthquake Early Warning System

The announcement that the City of Long Beach was to be a test site for an earthquake early warning system got a little coverage in April. See KNBC news.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Long-Beach-Earthquake-Early-Warning-System-CISN-EEWS-256586271.html

Los Angeles County will be a beta site for a system that could warn people of an impending earthquake, giving them enough time to find safety.
Long Beach will be home to the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS), developed by the United States Geological Survey and the California Institute of Technology, the city announced Thursday.
According to the CISN, warning times depend on the distance to the epicenter of the earthquake.

KCET also just ran a program highlighting Long Beach in this effort to get an early warning system up and running in California. See http://www.kcet.org/shows/socal_connected/content/science-and-technology/earthquake-detection-system-may-give-100-second-warning-when-big-one-hits.html

This is great for Long Beach and great for California.

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Alaska Earthquake Prompts Tsunami Warning for West Coast

English: Travel times (in hours) are shown for the tsunamis produced by the 1960 Concepción, Chile, earthquake (purple curves) and by the 1964 Good Friday, Valdez (Anchorage), Alaska earthquake (red curves). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Damage to Fourth Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, caused by the Good Friday Earthquake. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

hard times (Photo credit: Genista)

Yesterday two major earthquakes hit in the Pacific rim -- Alaska and New Zealand.

See http://abc7.com/news/80-magnitude-earthquake-prompts-tsunami-warning/134885/

Folks, these are all wake up calls for Long Beach. Good time to make sure you are ready.

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Ask and you shall receive...just in

4/24/2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE #CM: 042414

Subject :	City of Long Beach Selected as Beta Site to Help Test Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS)
Contact :	Reginald Harrison, Deputy City Manager    562.570.9250     Reginald.Harrison@longbeach.gov

The City of Long Beach has been selected by the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to serve as a beta site for California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS).  The EEWS uses existing seismic networks to detect moderate to large earthquakes very rapidly so that a warning can be sent before destructive seismic waves arrive to locations outside the epicenter. Once fully developed, these warnings could allow people time to take some protective action and could also trigger automatic responses to safeguard critical infrastructure. "We are always looking for ways to better prepare for a disaster, and even a few seconds of warning before the force of an earthquake reaches us can save lives and protect property," Mayor Bob Foster said. What this could mean for City operations, residents and businesses in Long Beach in the future, is that certain preventative actions might be able to occur with a few second of warning, such as: Allow people to drop, cover and hold-on and grant businesses time to shut down and move workers to safe locations;  Give medical professionals time to stop delicate procedures;  Protect travelers by providing time for trains to slow or stop, for elevator doors to open, for bridge traffic to clear, for slowing or stopping traffic, and even stopping landings and take-offs at airports; and  Enable emergency responders to prepare by opening fire station doors and starting generators. “The earthquake early warning system provides the City with another tool, in addition to CERT classes to prepare residents and all-hazards training to prepare staff, in the event of a disaster or major emergency,” said Deputy City Manager Reginald Harrison.  “Once fully developed, this technology could literally save lives.” As a beta site, certain City of Long Beach departments will test the system and provide feedback, so that the developers can further refine their algorithms and software to ensure that the system integrates with real work delivery mechanisms, procedures and product benefits. This testing will be conducted at no cost to the City. USGS currently issues rapid, automatic earthquake information, which is available to the general public via the Internet, email, text messages, and social media.  You can sign up for these messages on their website at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes.  More information on the EEWS can be found at the CISN website at http://www.cisn.org/eew/. As the City continues to enhance its emergency response training, residents are strongly advised to prepare to be self-sufficient for at least five days in the event of a large-scale incident.  Create an emergency plan for your home and family, put together an emergency supply kit (food, water, tools, etc,) and make sure all of your family members know how to contact one another.  Further, all residents are encouraged to sign up for Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training.  The Long Beach Fire Department conducts this free program to train the public how to become self-sufficient during major disasters. More information is available at http://bit.ly/BePreparedLongBeach and www.longbeach.gov/fire/cert.

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Mexico has invested in an early warning system -- so should California

Mexico here we come... (Photo credit: Mexicanwave)

See the link below and watch the video which shows that Mexico had an early warning alert system for earthquakes. California needs one as well.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mexico-city-gets-early-quake-20140418,0,7987331.story#axzz2zNaNybTq

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Putting Politics Aside -- We Need to Ask Is Long Beach Ready?

LONG BEACH RESIDENTS:

Since coming to City Council in 2006, I have spent considerable time on the issue of getting residents ready to survive a major earthquake or tsunami. My staff and I have gone through CERT -- Community Emergency Response Team training.( http://longbeach.gov/fire/cert/) I have held numerous community workshops with disaster preparedness experts to bring people together to get ready. http://www.presstelegram.com/technology/20121009/long-beach-councilwoman-gerrie-schipske-to-host-emergency-preparedness-rountable 

The recent (and continuing) swarm of earthquakeshttp://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0339-socal-quake-20140329,0,2648814.story  and the workshop held last week at the Aquarium http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20140322/long-beach-aquarium-of-the-pacific-to-host-tsunami-preparedness-event  about preparing Long Beach for a tsunami, should make all of us stop and think -- is Long Beach ready? Do our residents know where to go in case of a major disaster? Do we know what streets to avoid if evacuating? Do we have tsunami warning signs posted? Do our public facilities have back up power and supplies, including drinkable water?

It is important that right now the current Mayor and the City Council move as quickly as possible to pull together resources and make sure every neighborhood in our City is prepared.

We all know that there is an election coming, but earthquakes and disasters have their own timetable as you will see in the video below prepared by the Great California Shakeout -- an effort to get California ready for an earthquake.

Please contact Mayor Foster and your member of the City Council and ask if Long Beach is ready and how can we get ready as a City.

Preparedness Now, The Great California Shakeout

 I am including a link for you to check the specific natural disaster hazard in your neighborhood: http://myhazards.calema.ca.gov/  

Please also check http://www.readyla.org/ and find out what you need to do to prepare. 

Together, we can do this!

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Worst Case Scenario in Long Beach

Our neighbour's front yard fountain = result of La Habra 2014 earthquake. #NewBellehurst @BuenaParkCA @LaHabraCA #earthquake #5.1 #terremoto #temblor #magnitude #2014 (Photo credit: dj venus)

Take a moment and view this video which lays out what is expected when the "big one" (major earthquake in Southern California) comes to our area. The recent swarm of earthquakes in our area should be a wake up call.

Be prepared. Be ready. Check out www.readyla.org for tips.

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You Should Be Concerned --Swarm of Recent Earthquakes

This movie brings home the issue of the need to be prepared. Once the shaking is over, we need to be able to get on with our lives. Be prepared. Be ready. Get your earthquake kit put together.

Quake in LA Should Make Us Think About Getting Ready

The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 4.4 earthquake that hit Los Angeles yesterday should be a reminder that the big one is coming and it is important for Long Beach residents to get ready to survive.

Experts estimate that a 7.0 or large magnitude earthquake would bring widespread devastation in Southern California.

As you know, I have sponsored several community workshops on how to get ready. You need to get your home equipped with supplies and water that will last at least seven days.

Check out www.ready.gov to find out what what you need to get together to get prepared.

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