Multi-Hazards News

Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project News

• Why ‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’ is still the best advice
  Eureka Times-Standard
  09 February 2010,
  By Lori Dengler
  “Earthquakes elicit the instinctual flight response in people. Repeated drills give us the muscle memory to instill the right thing to do when the earth shakes. Schools in California are required to practice drop, cover, hold on drills. For the rest of us, participating in the annual Great California ShakeOut is a good way to start. The next ShakeOut will be held on Oct. 21, 2010, at 10:21 a.m. Register now to participate as an individual or an organization, and find links to preparedness tips and instructions at http://www.shakeout.org/.”
• Scientists create model of monster ‘Frankenstorm’
  Associated Press
  24 January 2010,
  By Alicia Chang
  “The hypothetical but plausible storm would be similar to the 1861-1862 extreme floods that temporarily moved the state capital from Sacramento to San Francisco and forced the then-governor to attend his inauguration by rowboat.”

  “The scenario “is much larger than anything in living memory,” said project manager Dale Cox with the U.S. Geological Survey

• ‘River’ delivers stormy weather
  Scientists develop tools to study phenomenon
  The Modesto Bee
  17 October 2009,
  By Matt Weiser
  “One new tool will be a numerical rating system to describe storm intensity, similar to the category number used to size up East Coast hurricanes, said Dale Cox, a USGS project manager in Sacramento.
• FOILING WATER’S FURY
  Agencies are developing a drill similar to the earthquake Shakeout training
  The Press-Enterprise
  18 October 2009,
  By Janet Zimmerman
  “The potential for devastating floods have not garnered the same attention or concern as earthquakes among planners and the public, said Dale Cox, project manager for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project, the group behind the drills.

  “The Big One as it relates to a storm is not really there for people. They’re not thinking of 1861 — probably not even of 1986 — and it’s not your water-cooler disaster that you might talk about. In a sense, that’s a problem … these extreme events are, given climate change, more likely in the future.”

• Atmospheric River Slams Northern California
  USGS News Release
  15 October 2009,
  By Dale Cox
  “As people in northern California begin to assess damage from the high winds and heavy rain of October 13 and 14, they may wonder what hit them. The answer, according to Dave Reynolds, meteorologist-in-charge at NOAA’s National Weather Service forecast office in Monterey, was an “atmospheric river,” the meteorological phenomenon that draws water vapor from the Pacific Ocean near the equator and transports it to the U.S. West Coast with firehose-like ferocity. “
• Researchers warn foothills below burned hills face mudflow danger
  90.3 KPCV Southern California Public Radio
  09 October 2009,
  By Nick Roman & Susan Valot
  “Geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey have assessed the burned area. They’ve identified and mapped areas where normal winter rainstorms could trigger debris flows.

  “I think the important thing is that you can’t prevent the risk but you can manage it,” said Jones. “We’ve got probably the best system in the world. But this is a higher risk then we have faced before.” “

• ARkStorm: A winter you wouldn’t believe (but should)
  Discovery Channel Earth Pub
  16 July 2009,
  By John D. Cox
  “There is no law of physics that says you cannot have two huge storms hit the West Coast in a matter of a week or two apart,” says Martin Ralph, a research meteorologist NOAA’s Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Boulder, CO. “The ARkStorm scenario will provide emergency responders, resource managers and the public a reality check on what is historically possible.”
• Earthquake drill finds weaknesses in steel high-rises
  Los Angeles Times
  02 January 2009,
  By Jia-Rui Chong
  “High-rise steel buildings sustained less damage than unreinforced brick buildings and older concrete buildings in the analysis. But the damage they sustained was greater than expected based on the standard building design formulas.”
• Cast of millions puts on Calif. earthquake drill
  USA Today
  13 November 2008,
  By Alicia Chang, AP Science Writer
  “”We’re really taking a step forward toward earthquake safety,” said Lucy Jones, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist who has long urged residents to prepare.”
• Millions ‘drop’ in US quake drill
  BBC
  13 November 2008,
  By Rajesh Mirchandani
  “It was devised by scientists to help people prepare for future earthquakes.”
• California Stages Mock Earthquake Disaster for Drill
  Fox News
  13 November 2008,
  By Rajesh Mirchandani
  “California is the most seismically active state in the Lower 48. Earlier this year, the USGS calculated that the state faces a 46 percent chance of being hit by a magnitude- 7.5 or larger quake in the next 30 years, with the epicenter likely in Southern California.”
• Earthquake drill aims to make state more prepared
  Los Angeles Times
  13 November 2008,
  By James Wagner
  “At 10 a.m. today, an estimated 5.2 million people around Southern California will drop to the ground, roll under the nearest table and spend the next two minutes clutching a table leg.”
• The Big One
  Time Magazine
  13 November 2008,
  By Claire Suddath
  “There probably won’t be an earthquake in Southern California today, but five million people will cower under furniture anyway. The Great ShakeOut, the biggest disaster drill in U.S. history, will show us just how prepared the Golden State will be when the big one finally hits.”
• California Rehearses for Major Earthquake
  ABC News
  13 November 2008,
  By Lauren Sher and Brian Rooney
  “Called “The Great Shakeout,” the nation’s largest mock earthquake in history took place Thursday at 10 a.m. PST, to prepare for a threat of significant magnitude, the “Big One” that scientists project is long overdue.”
• Southern Californians participate in America’s largest-ever earthquake drill
  The Guardian UK
  13 November 2008,
  By Dan Glalster
  “The Great Southern California ShakeOut had been billed as the nation’s largest ever earthquake drill, priming residents of the area considered to be most vulnerable to the Big One.”
• The coming quake
  High Country News
  27 October 2008,
  By Judith Lewis
  “SoSAFE is part of the USGS-run Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project, an effort to bring geologists, economists, public health officials and politicians together to figure out how to prevent natural disasters like earthquakes from evolving into catastrophes — and determine whether it’s worth spending billions preparing for something that may never happen. On Nov. 13, another offshoot of the Multi-Hazards project, a consortium of schools, scientists and government agencies called “the Earthquake Country Alliance,” will stage its first public relations event: the Great Southern California ShakeOut. This region-wide drill will simulate a 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas — using a possible location, and potential magnitude, of the long-awaited Big One.”
• Earthquakes? Don’t Freak Out—ShakeOut!
  USGS News Release
  28 October 2008,
  By Clarice Ransom
  “What if you knew that a magnitude 7.8 earthquake would happen in less than three weeks? In a new video interview, USGS earthquake scientist Dr. Lucy Jones explains that millions of Southern Californians will be preparing as if they do know, thanks to the Great Southern California ShakeOut.”
• Earthquake planning drill to explore effects of magnitude 7.8 jolt on San Andreas Fault; participants sought
  The Press-Enterprise
  9 October 2008,
  By Mark Muckenfuss
  “This is the most scientifically sophisticated and detailed scenario ever put together,” Mileti said. It predicts what the public would go through in the initial hours after such a quake and in the days and weeks that would follow.”
• The ShakeOut San Andreas Earthquake Scenario: Preparing for a Catastrophe
  Fire Engineering
  1 Sept 2008,
  By Larry Collins
  “The ShakeOut Scenario has already had several major effects. Because it is based on the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the San Andreas Fault’s southern section and the likely consequences of a major rupture in this region of 20 million people, the reality of this event is starting to register with those responsible for planning emergency response; coordinating humanitarian aid and recovery; and ensuring functions such as the continuity of government, business, and public safety.”
• LA Earthquake Rocks Los Angeles
  Los Angeles Times
  30 July 2008,
  By Joel Rubin and David Pierson
  “The quake gives new urgency to a drill, the Great Southern California Shakeout, being planned for November by a consortium of public and private organizations. It will simulate the response to a magnitude 7.8 quake on the San Andreas fault. Seismologists consider such a quake to be inevitable, although they cannot predict when it might hit.”
• Disaster Earthquake Scenario Unveiled For Southern California
  ScienceDaily
  23 May 2008,
  “Scientists have unveiled a hypothetical Scenario describing how a magnitude 7.8 Southern California earthquake -similar to the recent earthquake in China- would impact the region, causing loss of lives and massive damage to infrastructure, including critical transportation, power, and water systems.”
• Coachella Valley after the “Big One”: Be prepared for isolation
  Desert Sun
  22 May 2008,
  By Keith Matheny
  “In addition to fallen buildings from the shaking, areas around the Salton Sea and northward toward southern Indio are expected to experience liquefaction, a loosening and collapse of the ground, said Dan Ponti of U.S. Geological Survey, who helped develop the earthquake scenario.”
• Disaster Earthquake Scenario Unveiled for Southern California
  USGS Press Release
  22 May 2008,
  “In the Scenario, the earthquake would kill 1800 people, injure 50,000, cause $200 billion in damage, and have long-lasting social and economic consequences. This is the most comprehensive analysis ever of what a major Southern California earthquake would mean, and is the scientific framework for what will be the largest earthquake preparedness drill in California history, scheduled for November 13, 2008.”
• Preparing for a Big Quake in Calif.
  NPR Day to Day
  22 May 2008,
  By Alex Chadwick
  “The U.S. Geological Survey is playing out an earthquake scenario today in California. Alex Chadwick talks with Lucy Jones, the chief scientist of the Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project for Southern California.”
• Earthquake drill ‘merely credible’, not worst-case scenario, scientist says
  The Press Enterprise
  22 May 2008,
  By Ben Goad
  “There are earthquakes that could be considerably larger than the scenario earthquake,” said Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC. Jordan said that records point to 9.0 magnitude quakes in the 1700s. “That is an area where we have large concern, for truly monstrous earthquakes.”
• Earthquake drill ‘merely credible’, not worst-case scenario, scientist says
  The Press Enterprise
  22 May 2008,
  By Ben Goad
  “There are earthquakes that could be considerably larger than the scenario earthquake,” said Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC. Jordan said that records point to 9.0 magnitude quakes in the 1700s. “That is an area where we have large concern, for truly monstrous earthquakes.”
• 7.8 quake could kill 362 in O.C.
  Orange County Register
  22 May 2008,
  By Gary Robbins
  “”This is not a prediction. It is forecast for what could happen on a highly plausible quake in Southern California and gives disaster officials something to plan for,” said Dale Cox, a project manager for the USGS.”
• ‘Big One’ earthquake report paints bleak economic picture
  Los Angeles Times
  22 May 2008,
  By Andrea Chang
  “An earthquake of this size and scope is inevitable in Southern California, and we are simply not ready for it,” said Sue Perry, a U.S. Geological Survey staff scientist who contributed to the report. “An earthquake of that size could be the Katrina of Southern California.”
• November drill to tackle ‘The Big One’: a 7.8 quake on Inland stretch of San Andreas fault
  The Press Enterprise
  22 May 2008,
  By Jennifer Bowles
  “An earthquake of this size and scope is inevitable in Southern California, and we are simply not ready for it,” said Sue Perry, a U.S. Geological Survey staff scientist who contributed to the report. “An earthquake of that size could be the Katrina of Southern California.”
• Calif. quake scientists detail impact of ‘Big One’
  AP Washington Post
  21 May 2008,
  By Alicia Chang
  “A team of about 300 scientists, governments, first responders and industries worked for more than a year to create a realistic crisis scenario that can be used for preparedness, including a statewide drill planned later this year. Published by the U.S. Geological Survey and California Geological Survey, it is to be released Thursday in Washington, D.C..”
• Geology, Engineering Contribute to Quake Damage
  NPR
  14 May 2008,
  By Richard Harris
  “Seismologist Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey lives in California, but she used to live in Sichuan province near the scene of this week’s quake.”
• California’s natural born killers
  BBC News
  31 October 2007,
  By Mark Kinver

  “The US Geological Survey (USGS) has established a multi-agency Landslide Hazards Program to assess the risks of “debris flows” in the aftermath of wildfires in southern California and other parts of the US’s western region.”

• Quake prediction ,
  CNN Situation Room, 2:00 min.
  August 10, 2007
  By Brian Todd
  “A USGS seismologist’s newly-drawn scenario for a massive earthquake in southern California.”
• Scientist makes dire earthquake prediction,
  Los Angeles Times,
  August 10, 2007
  By David Kelly
  “”There will be several thousand dead and billions of dollars in damage,” said Lucy Jones, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and a member of the California Seismic Safety Commission. She also said a devastating quake could topple buildings as far away as Los Angeles.”
• Preparing for the “Big One”,
  The Desert Sun,
  August 10, 2007
  By Keith Matheny
  “Scientists consider a major temblor on the section of the fault that runs through the Coachella Valley about 150 years overdue and a near inevitability. It potentially would be the most destructive natural disaster in U.S. history.”
• Quake Rattles Nerves, Earthquake Safety In Focus,
  CBS 2, Palm Springs,
  August 09, 2007
  By Kevin Smith
  “I consider the Coachella Valley the most dangerous place in the United States,” said Seismic Safety Commissioner Lucy Jones.”
• Valley Learns Urgency of Next Big Quake,
  KESQ, News Channel 3, Palm Springs
  August 08, 2007
  By Brittney Hopper
  “You will probably live through this earthquake but you may very well be bankrupt by this earthquake.”
• Expert: Quake Preparations Must Begin Now,
  KESQ, News Channel 3, Palm Springs
  August 09, 2007
  By Gil Diaz
  “Residents and officials from around the valley were in attendance for a meeting to prepare folks for a catastrophic quake.”
• Imagining the Unthinkable – in Detail,
  USGS Press Release,
  May 7, 2007
  By Dale A. Cox and Stephanie Hanna
• The Really Big One,
  Los Angeles Times,
  January 7, 2007
  By Susan E. Hough, Susan E. Hough is Scientist-in-Charge of the U.S. Geological Survey Pasadena office and author of “Richter’s Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man.”
• Urban Earth
  Investigating the Effect of the City on the Earth and the Earth on the City
  California Biodiversity News: Volume 10, Number 1
  Spring/Summer 2003
  By Dale A. Cox
  
  “By drilling a core sample here, taking a water sample there, and counting some critters under there, you have not only answered some pressing questions for the Conservancy, but you have also contributed to the overall body of scientific knowledge needed by everyone else.”