Experts prepare for future earthquakes in California

Following a 3.6 magnitude earthquake in Westwood on Monday night, and a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday afternoon that toppled buildings and claimed hundreds of lives in Mexico, earthquakes seem like a more pressing danger than ever. Researchers at the Southern California Earthquakes Center are actively investigating how and why earthquakes occur to better prepare Los Angeles for its next tremor.

SCEC, which is headquartered at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, comprises a collection of scientists and researchers from over 75 institutions and organizations from all around the world. Now in its fifth phase, the Center’s work is dictated by proposals from members of the SCEC community. The researchers involved in the international initiative convene at an annual meeting each September to present their recent work to be reviewed by their colleagues.

SCEC’s flagship project is an initiative named Cybershake. Jason Ballmann, the communications manager at SCEC, described Cybershake as an intense computational endeavor that compiles sets of earthquake data.

“[Cybershake] takes into account a lot of different types of scientific inputs, like looking at where the faults are, looking at the probabilities of those earthquakes happening, and also understanding what is happening within the earth’s crust,” Ballmann said. “What that means is specifically being able to know how fast or slow seismic waves can travel in various parts throughout the crust as defined by the California boundary.”

Ballmann added that Cybershake is an important step in preparing California for its next major earthquake.

“The project takes all that data into consideration and then models different types of earthquake scenarios,” Ballmann said. “It lets us know what kind of shaking can occur, how hard it can shake and what way, so people like emergency managers, policymakers and design engineers can figure out how they can best make policy or design buildings.”

Steven Goldfarb, senior coordinator of USC emergency planning and business continuity, explained the resources and response plan the University has instituted in case an earthquake occurs near the campus.

“The reality is that we have a whole department dedicated just to plan for this,” Goldfarb said. “There are things that a lot of people aren’t aware of, because there are so many elements to it.”

Goldfarb outlined three phases of an earthquake scenario: planning, response and recovery.

According to Goldfarb, USC’s preparedness plan includes building retrofitting and an extensive supply of emergency water, food, power and housing. The University also has a disaster medical plan in place in conjunction with Keck Medical Center and Engemann Student Health Center to provide emergency medical care.

The next phase of the response involves several USC emergency teams, including building emergency response teams to help evacuate building occupants and a campus emergency response team to perform disaster search and rescue, triage and first aid.

The Department of Public Safety is also trained to provide a first line of defense and emergency response in addition to surveying the campus in the event of an earthquake for damage. The Emergency Operations Center is responsible for coordinating response plans. Additionally, a team of medical professionals comprise the disaster mental health response team to provide stress relief services to students.

Protocols for recovery and continuity include departmental business continuity plans for schools and departments to continue their work offline, IT and financial disaster recovery plans and disaster waste management.

USC has participated in The Great Southern California ShakeOut every year since the its establishment in 2008. This year’s drill is scheduled for Oct. 19. Ballmann urges students and faculty to participate to learn more about proper earthquake protocol.

“For some people, [the -ShakeOut] can mean something as simple as doing a stop, drop, cover and hold-on drill,” Ballmann said. “It can also mean that you do much more. At USC, that means getting the faculty, staff and students notified ahead of time that they can participate at a time that works for them.”

Ballmann also encourages students to establish a communication plan with their families.

“Your family members are going to want to try to call you after a disaster,” Ballmann said. “But cell towers are going to be overrun with many other calls that are trying to take place, and we need to reserve that data space for emergency responders. Your communication plan with your family should be digital — text or email based.”

In addition to the ShakeOut, the University also has online resources available for its students. These include the USC emergency procedures video and emergency preparedness webpage.

SCEC and USC Fire Safety/Emergency Planning will co-host the Emergency Preparedness Fair on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Bovard Auditorium to educate students and faculty on the importance of earthquake safety and building a disaster supply kit.

“We do know that we’re going to have earthquakes in the future, and we have to be prepared for them,” Ballmann said.