OPTIMUM SEISMIC, INC.
August 2024 NEWSLETTER
Earthquake Preparedness Tips from the California Earthquake Authority
Ali Sahabi, GEC
Principal,
Optimum Seismic, Inc.
Recent earthquakes in various California communities, including El Centro, Corona, Malibu, Ojai, Salinas, and Morgan Hill, serve as stark reminders of the ever-present seismic risks in our state. Seismic retrofitting is crucial for reinforcing the structural integrity of buildings, ensuring they can withstand the unpredictable forces of an earthquake. By fortifying both apartment and commercial buildings, we protect lives, reduce potential damages, and minimize economic disruptions. It’s not just about safeguarding property; it’s about preserving our communities and maintaining resilience in the face of natural disasters.
Staying prepared is equally vital. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) provides valuable resources through Earthquake Warning California, offering advanced alerts and preparedness tips.
Signing up for life-saving alerts, knowing how to protect yourself during an earthquake, and developing a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan are essential steps. By understanding and mitigating hazards, Californians can proactively reduce risks. Embracing these measures ensures that when the next earthquake hits, our communities are ready, resilient, and capable of bouncing back swiftly. This article was published by the California Earthquake Authority (CEA).
Structures can be both earthquake-resilient & sustainable
The building industry is one of the most energy-intensive sectors, accounting for 40% of global CO2emissions. Steel and cement manufacturing are two of the main culprits. As of 2020, steel manufacturing alone accounted for between 7% and 9% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, according to the World Steel Organization. The manufacture of cement, the main ingredient of concrete, accounted for a similar amount of such emissions.
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More than 400 tremors followed 5.2-magnitude quake that rattled Southern California
More than 400 tremors have followed a 5.2-magnitude earthquake near Bakersfield that sent shaking across Southern California earlier this week.
The quake struck the southernmost end of the Central Valley, about 90 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, just after 9 p.m. Tuesday and was felt throughout parts of Kern, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. In the two days since, there have been 74 smaller earthquakes measuring a magnitude of 2.5.
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7.1 magnitude quake strikes coast of Japan, tsunami advisories triggered
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 has rocked the coast of southern Japan as tsunami advisories have been triggered in the region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The epicenter of the earthquake is just a dozen miles off the coast of the city of Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
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‘We’re Really Not Supposed to Have Earthquakes Here’
A map put out by the US Geological Society earlier this year on earthquake risk zones has a lot of red in unsurprising places such as California and Alaska. But as a story at the nonprofit science site Undark points out, it also has what amounts to a bull’s-eye over … Missouri? The small town of New Madrid, Missouri, to be precise.
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A clearer picture of Cascadia emerges from modern mapping
On January 26, 1700, a magnitude 9.0 megathrust earthquake originating from the Cascadia Subduction Zone rocked the Pacific Northwest. The subsequent tsunami and coastal inundation from this historic event were immortalized. They’re mentioned in traditional stories shared by generations of local Indigenous people, in records of an orphan tsunami traveling across the Pacific Ocean to Japan without local people feeling an earthquake, and in the dead and submerged trees (or “ghost forests”) that haunt the Pacific Northwest’s coastline today.
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Will we have more earthquakes because of climate change?
Earthquakes are one of the most mysterious and terrifying natural disasters. Although we have some idea of when the big ones might happen, others can occur seemingly out of nowhere, bulldozing cities and creating secondary disasters such as fires, landslides and tsunamis. Climate change is causing increases in other natural disasters, like wildfires and hurricanes. So could it make earthquakes more common, too?
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Rare Ancient Marble Statue Uncovered in City Devastated by Earthquakes
A rare marble statue from the Roman period has been unearthed in an ancient city that was devastated by earthquakes around 1,600 years ago.
The “exceptionally preserved” statue was found in the sewage system of Heraclea Sintica—a settlement established in the 4th century B.C. in what is now southwestern Bulgaria, near the country’s border with Greece.
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Optimum Seismic retrofits 11 buildings for Property Manager
Santa Fe Management company’s Jessie Childers says a refinancing requirement prompted building retrofits.
Santa Fe Management tried Optimum Seismic on one property, and was impressed by the work. She then contracted with Optimum Seismic to retrofit 10 more apartment buildings.
