Please remember us in the PNW when the 9.5 Richter Mega-quake hits.

[calimary]

25. Lived in L.A. for 50 years. Earthquake threats are something we live with every day.

HOPEFULLY we've learned enough from the last big one here, in 1994, as a community, to retrofit like crazy!

There's this HUGE and extremely annoying road construction project cutting through a large swath of West Los Angeles, through the mountain pass that separates the Westside from the San Fernando Valley, and down just into the valley. It's taken several years. LOTS of retrofitting and modernizing quite seriously needed. That stretch of freeway was built in 1962 - the year my parents and I moved out to L.A. Brand new. It hadn't been attended to in all that time. But MAN-Oh-MAN am I glad it's finally being redone! Needed widening on both sides, complete repaving, and retrofitting for the latest earthquake codes. The freeway AND the various bridges across it. Here in SoCal, we've simply got to do it. No way around it. Traffic has been a nightmare for miles, spilling onto every surface street and major thoroughfare with an on/offramp on that stretch of freeway. AWFUL! You can lose an hour or two, waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, almost literally crawling toward the freeway if you use it to commute home. But we have no choice. It HAS to be done. It's long overdue. We've already seen what happens when the earthquake hits the overpass. If you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you'll be crushed to death by collapsing concrete. Happened in 1994. So yeah, life in earthquake country is - well - unsettling sometimes. Many stores, supermarkets, and even quickie-marts carry some sort of emergency/earthquake survival kit. We're encouraged to keep one in the trunks of our cars, as well as our homes and offices. It's in the back of everyone's mind here, I think.

I worked on a radio documentary once, about an 8.3 earthquake - the size of the "big one" for which we're all told here, repeatedly, to be prepared. It won several awards - it was really a good one - back in the mid 80s. Basically we faked an earthquake. With sound effects and everything, coming out of a regular set of tunes. The small group of us anchors and reporters (back when at least a few rock stations actually still had news and public affairs) each took a "beat" somewhere around town, and reported about what had "happened" there. As in: freeway collapse, grocery store collapse (falling cans. NOTHING to sniff at), emergency room, and so forth. The radio station actually suspended regular programming for a half-hour during morning drive to run it, and promoted it for weeks ahead of time - mainly to alert listeners that what they were about to hear was NOT really happening. AMAZING how we had that kind of management support. It was a really great public service and very cool to be part of.

The basic rule of thumb, seemingly across the board, is - BE PREPARED TO SURVIVE, ON YOUR OWN, FOR UP TO THREE DAYS.

That means having access to enough drinking water, food that doesn't need refrigeration (what if there's no power?), medicines (especially prescriptions), a radio - battery-powered or some such that doesn't need electricity, first-aid kit, and pet supplies if you have pets. Don't forget your quadrupeds!!! The message that's always stressed is - Don't assume you'll get help immediately. What if first responders can't reach you because the streets are messed up? Or if they're overwhelmed? Be able to hang in there for awhile on your own. For up to three days.

It's good advice.