Double punch may counteract quake amnesia
LOS ANGELES — The seismic onetwo that hit Southern California last week left residents particularly unnerved because it robbed them of the single bit of solace that normally comes with a big quake: the sense that the worst is over.
After the 6.4magnitude quake hit near Ridgecrest on Thursday, many expected aftershocks that would gradually decrease in strength and frequency. They’d been through it before, in Northridge, Sylmar and Whittier. But when a much larger 7.1magnitude temblor struck Friday night, the shock quickly gave way to a newfound dread: What’s next?
California Institute of Technology seismologist Lucy Jones announced an 8% to 9% chance of an even bigger rupture coming within hours and days. The good news: Many decided it was finally time to get prepared.
“It’s only a matter of time,” said Kim Caldwell, 55, who has lived in Southern California all her life and experienced numerous quakes. She said she and her husband have been lax about keeping their earthquake supplies stocked and up to date at their home in Santa Ana. But if the first temblor didn’t jolt her into action, the second one certainly did.
Perhaps after a long earthquake drought residents needed the double warning.
Seismologists are constantly fighting earthquake amnesia, trying to get people — many who have never experienced a major quake, with the last devastating one occurring a quarter century ago in Northridge — to grasp the severity and ultimate inevitability of the threat and get prepared.
It’s one of the paradoxes of living in earthquake country that so many remain in denial despite the repeated warnings of the tectonic forces eternally poised to level the region.
Quake preparations can range from the simple — having earthquake kits and emergency plans ready — to more expensive items like backup generators and quake insurance, and retrofitting buildings to better withstand shaking.
Jones said since officials began measuring earthquakes since 1932, there have been 22 of a magnitude 6 and above. Only two of those — including the one on July 4 — have been a foreshock to a larger one.
The last was in 1987, when a 6.2magnitude quake struck south of the Salton Sea, followed by a 6.6 quake 12 hours later.
“It was really similar, it’s just that it was 30 years ago and nobody remembers,” said Jones, who has led the battle against earthquake amnesia.