Getting Earthquake Training Right Here in Altadena

The 8.9 earthquake in Japan was so surreal that it is hard to imagine just how powerful Mother Nature’s fury can be when unleashed upon any place on the globe.  It leaves us defenseless.  Our only hope is that fate would be merciful and as many lives are spared as possible.

The difference in what happened in Japan and what could possibly happen right here in California is how the populace was trained in dealing with earthquakes.

The fact that so many lives were spared in the face of such disastrous force was a tribute to just how seriously the populace of Japan has taken earthquake preparedness. They had a plan of action and followed the plan instinctively when the event occurred.

LA County has a program, free to the public that will assist us in being prepared when large earthquakes strike in our area. Interestingly enough, only a very small percentage of the people take the class or seem to take it very seriously concerning the reality of living in an active earthquake zone.

There is no mistake: California is an earthquake zone. Altadena is an earthquake zone. It is not a matter of if we will have an earthquake, but only when, how large, and how prepared we may be to survive the event.

We are literally playing Russian roulette with our lives and the lives of our loved ones by not taking the necessary precautions.

Although we cannot completely withstand such a destructive force if it hits us dead on, we can do many things if we survive the initial quake to save family members, ourselves, and possibly the lives of others.

There are things we should be doing right now with and in our homes. We can make sure we have working fire extinguishers. We can make sure we know how to shut off the gas and have working flashlights in a place that we can find in the dark. We can have an ample supply of food and water to help us survive for at least 10 days or longer.

If we are at work we can find the evacuation plan for the building and have a plan as to where to meet should communications be severed in the area.

We should have a central contact person out of state, which everyone should arrange for immediately. The reason for it being out of state is because chances are if the quake is that substantial this entire area will be endangered.

In the C.E.R.T. Training class (Community Emergency Response Team) you are taught all this and more facts that most likely you never would have even thought about. Chances are if the disaster is that large you would be on your own for quite a while because emergency services would not be able to reach you right away.

The first responses would be to schools and public facilities before they could service private homes. There are not enough emergency services and personnel to cover our entire population so people would need to know how to perform basic triage procedures, fire extinguishing and turning off the power to avoid electrical fires.

If you don’t know these very basic procedures you and your family would be very vulnerable to surviving after the initial disaster. These are the basics that are taught freely through the CERT free training courses.

The classes are set up in various areas of LA County practically every 3 months. They have weekend classes as well.  If you do not educate yourself to the basic survival techniques they offer, it could mean the difference between life and death.

There are basic emergency kits you may purchase at you local Home Depot, OSH, or other large hardware stores in the area. It is suggested that you keep one for each family member at home, one at work, and one in your car. Something this simple could save your life at least long enough for the emergency services are able to show up.

Hopefully people who live near the shorelines will learn the real dangers of a tsunami long after the quake. Once a quake hit with a magnitude that large many parts of our infrastructure would be greatly impacted. Crossing over bridges and highways could be very dangerous. Gas line eruptions under ground could be an issue.

The more you know the better you can be prepared in dealing with something that you would hope wouldn’t happen, at least not in your lifetime. We can perhaps save others and ourselves, but only if we are prepared to deal with the worst of conditions and if we educate ourselves.

Again, the recent earthquake in Japan should serve as a harsh reminder to us that we live in earthquake country. Just as the people of Japan were trained in what to do should an earthquake strike, we could be just as prepared if we take the necessary precautions.

If you live in California you live in an earthquake zone. Do what you can to be prepared for when the big one hits us.  Take a CERT training class now!