RE: [californiadisasters] The Giant, Underestimated Earthquake Threat to North America

All: I am forwarding a reply to an article that a fellow member of the CaliforniaDisasters Yahoo! Group above excerpted for members:

Here is the URL for the article: http://discovermagazine.com/2012/extreme-earth/01-big-one-earthquake-could-devastate-pacific-northwest

 

 

From: Lewack, Mark A.
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 7:35 AM
To: 'californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com'; IAEM List; Emergency-Management@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [californiadisasters] The Giant, Underestimated Earthquake Threat to North America

 

Great article!  The West Coast (and the New Madrid Fault Zone) is not the only area that may deal with a real devastating earthquake.  Here on the East Coast we may yet succumb to earthquakes that occur in regions where faults have not yet been mapped or earthquakes whose devastating effects may be felt hundreds, maybe thousands of miles beyond the point of origin. 

 

In the Washington D.C. area, there have been very small earthquakes from time to time, but nearly all of them have had limited impact with little damage, if any.   But, the D.C. area has experienced devastating earthquakes in the past and got a rude awakening last August.  

 

Until last August, the overwhelming majority of planners and emergency Managers in the D.C. area neglected to include the possibility of Earthquakes and what to do in their Emergency Plans.   As a result, most residents and most workers froze in place (scratching their heads on what to do), self-evacuated with little, if any situational awareness, or did little to protect themselves and others.   Stop, Cover, and Hold was a regular part of citizen and workforce education and emergency drilling in Earthquake areas, but not here.   

 

Had the Earthquake occurred on an unmapped fault line, closer to the D.C. area, workers and private citizens here, would have been forced to become more aware and concerned about people with access and functional needs, maybe even become access or functionally-impaired themselves.  This is another issue for another day, but you cannot ignore or pooh-pooh this issue either.   

 

You can ignore certain issues because they have become political fodder, but you cannot ignore science and experience.

 

Mark Lewack

Emergency Actions Coordinator

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

1900 E Street NW, Suite 1300

Washington, DC 20415

(202) 606-5415 (Office)

(301) 807-8943 (Cell #2)

Mark.Lewack@opm.gov

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