Two significant earthquake threats face communities in the Apartment Association of California Southern Cities area.
One is the well-known risk of buildings being damaged by strong seismic shaking. The second is more localized along low coastal areas — the danger of a tsunami triggered by an earthquake that may occur thousands of miles away.
More than 150 of these powerful water forces have hit California’s shore since 1800. Most were barely noticeable, but a few have proven to be deadly and highly destructive.
Long Beach has some of its homes, businesses and people located within the city’s tsunami hazard zone. And while everyone there is at risk in one way or another, the threat is strongest for children, the elderly, and visitors who may not be familiar with the area and how to respond to the threat.
“A large tsunami could flood sizable areas of Marina del Rey and Long Beach to an elevation of 15 feet,” California Department of Conservation tsunami expert Rick Wilson told City News Service. “Flood levels for the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach could reach elevations of 12 to 15 feet, which would inundate almost all of the land in the ports and some of the surrounding communities.”
The largest of the possible tsunamis, sparked by a major temblor off the coast of Alaska, could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage – not to mention as much as a billion dollars in lost business at the ports, the department calculated. (Check out the latest tsunami hazard map at https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/tsunami/maps.
Too much at stake to ignore
With this double hazard situation, it is obvious that preparations should be made to avert disaster before it happens.
Earthquakes, are by far the most likely – and more threatening – natural hazard facing our local communities.
In fact, Southern California’s deadliest earthquake occurred right here in the Apartment Association of California Southern Cities region long before most of us were even alive.
On March 10, 1933, the Newport-Inglewood Fault ripped away at the land with a 6.4-magnitude jolt that produced massive damage, 120 deaths, 500 injuries and some 34 terrifying aftershocks in the six hours following the initial jolt. Some $50 million in damage – $921 million in today’s dollars – was reported in Long Beach, Huntington Park, Compton and surrounding areas.
Had the quake struck just hours earlier – when school was in session – hundreds of children could have perished in the rubble of fallen school buildings.
Seismologists agree that our region is overdue for another earthquake of epic proportions – one even larger than Long Beach or even the 1994 Northridge quake. In fact, they estimate that “The Big One” could be up to 45 times larger than Northridge.
In that scenario, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 300,000 structures will be damaged. That’s one in every 16 buildings in the region.
Will yours be among them? Call the Optimum Seismic experts at 833-978-7664 of visit optimumseismic.com to arrange for a complimentary evaluation of the structural safety of your building.
