Earthquake preparedness: Learning from the Ridgecrest quakes

Earthquake preparedness should be part of every family’s emergency plans. Ron Strand, city manager for the city of Ridgecrest, visits the TehachaPod studios to talk about how the Ridgecrest community survived the 6.4 and 7.1 magnitude earthquakes from July 4 and 5, 2019.

In Season 2, Episode 90, Strand talks about the importance of having strong working relationships with neighboring agencies, how long it took for resources to arrive and what agencies responded to Ridgecrest. He talks about the volume of calls for first responders and how they encouraged the community to check in on their neighbors.

On July 21, 1952, the greater Tehachapi community had a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that was centered on the White Wolf Fault. The downtown area of Tehachapi was hit the hardest with much of the businesses suffered major damage.

Recently on July 26, 2021, a 3.2 magnitude earthquake was centered in the Tehachapi area.

“Emergency preparedness is something we can all work on every day, start with an emergency communication plan with your family. Emergency preparedness can mean so many different things in Tehachapi, earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, winter storms, PSPS to name just a few,” said Key Budge, TehachaPod co-host and community engagement specialist for the city of Tehachapi.

Go to: https://open.spotify. com/episode/2RwJTSwdiPDPWbjI2mhaEF?si=IxnSYQjISeOd9VdA6RmfMQ&dl_branch=1

TehachaPod is available on all podcasting platforms free of charge and is the official podcast for the city of Tehachapi. TehachaPod features Greg Garrett (city manager), Corey Costelloe (economic development coordinator) and Key Budge (community engagement specialist) as the hosts. Find a link on our website LiveUpTehachapi.com.