Abruptly stopped by a hard jolt this morning while online, I dropped a conversation and took cover. Immediately after the shake, I turned on the tv for the news. ABC eyewitness came on, reporting an earthquake in Pico Rivera, about 10 miles from me. Said it was a 4.4 magnitude at 4:04a.m. Rude awakening the 4.4 at 4:04 or merely a coincidence?
Ironically, I recalled posting an Earthquake Preparedness checklist on our Census Facebook Page earlier. It was a strategy for stressing the importance of sending back the forms. I ponder on whether fate timed the Census form in our hands with a shaker or whether its just all a coincidence?
Thoughts of heading out to a designated shelter, which I had not mapped out yet set off another alarm. What if the ceiling fan fell on my head and knocked me out? What if I got buried by the unsecured wall cabinet behind me? How would anyone know to find me and my family? How would search and rescue teams know how many of us were in this home? Was I really as ready as I thought I was.
Unfortunately for me, it was an embarassing No, Nope, Nada...not even close!
I live in Long Beach, a city that sits on an active fault, the San Andreas Fault (SAF). Out of sheer panic, I decided to redirect my work this morning towards a more deliberate preparedness plan. I suppose its the typical reaction of an under/unprepared Angelino in panic, but in my mind, I've been given another chance, so better late than never.
As reported on the SanAndreasfault.org website, the anatomy of the earthquake industry goes something like this. Geology and geophysics are the mechanics of it, done by those formally trained in these fields. Research and education is conducted by academic institutions while research and applied geology is done by government organizations.
The SAF, coincidentally, is a whole body of knowledge devoted to just the science and study of the fault. I found the US Geological Survey's website and spent a few hours navigating and reading. I found it to be quite impressive. It was interactive with cool learning and interactive tools for and about everything earthquake country.
I signed up for live earthquake alerts and found out that 442 of the 795 earthquakes recorded by the live seismic map in the US occurred in and around the San Andreas fault. That's 795 earthquakes this past week alone and 61% happening under my feet. An OMG moment and definitely a reality check for checking the checklist again.
And getting back to the magnitude of Census when it comes to earthquake country. If the big one does hit our communities, federal dollars to rebuild schools, roadways, hospitals and restore our lives back to normal would be allocated based on our numbers and need. This means our Census count has a significant impact on these emergency disasters. Translation: More People = more $$$$
So, as you muster over finding that darn form that came in the mail yesterday, lets do our community service duty today and spend 10 minutes answering those 10 questions. Then drop it in the mail, postage paid.
EARTHQUAKE CHECKLIST
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