San Diego's earthquake threats
The Rose Canyon Fault, and other local faults, are “all over San Diego, but we really don’t have effective mapping of them,” a local professor said. Times of San Diego takes a look at what the experts know about the possibility of a major quake and the impact it would have on the city and region.
What is being done?
Many agencies across the county have been hard at work improving seismic safety. Interstate 5 is at particular risk if there is a rupture along Rose Canyon, so efforts have been made to strengthen it.
“Caltrans, based on our earlier work, has structurally reinforced a lot of the bridges in San Diego because they weren’t designed for as strong of an earthquake as we know we can have,” Rockwell said. “They’re strengthening the pillars. I know that they enhance the diameter, the support structures themselves, to be stronger.”
Behind the scenes, many agencies — like Caltrans — have taken steps in case disaster strikes.
San Diego’s Office of Emergency Services hosted a city-wide, collaborative training session to improve communication between local, state, federal, military, utility and nonprofit organizations during a simulated major earthquake. The agencies met at the end of April, which the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services designated as Earthquake Preparedness Month.
What can you do?
Many public agencies provide tips on how to be prepared in the event of an earthquake or other disaster. Insurance is another matter.
Less than 20% of Californians have earthquake insurance, something not included in standard homeowners insurance packages. And most San Diegans live within several miles of a fault. The California Earthquake Agency, the largest provider of this coverage, encourages residents to be prepared.
Zeidan asks her students to read through their insurance documents to confirm whether or not they will be covered if a major earthquake strikes along the Rose Canyon Fault.
“People don’t like to put themselves in the worst-case scenario, but if we have a really big earthquake, people are dependent on the government for running water. That might be a week or more before they can come and fix system-wide water, sewage and electricity,” she said.
At the end of the Rose Canyon Fault lesson, Zeidan asks the class whether or not they feel prepared for an earthquake.
“Most of the time, the answer,” she said, “is ‘No, I’m really not prepared.’”
