Police/Fire and Rescue Service & Earthquakes - Blog Post 5
On Oct 17, 1989, at approximately 5:04 pm, the San Andres fault buckled creating a 7.0 earthquake that killed 63 people, injured 3,757 people and left some 12,000 people homeless. This earthquake was not only felt in the bay area but was also felt as far south as Santa Cruz and other California coast line cities.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake stood as a wake up call to many Californians in that improvements needed to be made to police and fire/rescue services, better warning systems, and prevention for future earth quakes.
The first observation that could be made was that the police and fire/rescue services were not adequately prepared during that time to handle a mass incident. A perfect example of this in the Loma Prieta earthquake was the collapse of the Interstate 880 overpass in West Oakland. During the earthquake, a mile and half section of the two story overpass collapsed crushing 42 people in their cars. Busy with other calls around the bay area, it took a while for fire and rescue personnel to get to the collapsed overpass. Before rescue personnel arrived, civilian bystanders pitched in too help with what they could. Since than technology such as better computers and radios have allowed police and fire services the ability to respond faster to calls for service. As well, since 1993, FEMA, or Federal Emergency Management Agency recognizes the importance of citizen volunteers. Since than CERT teams or Community Emergency Response teams have been created in over 28 states to respond to earthquake and fire type disasters.
Two other observations that the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 pointed out is that early warning systems and building structures needed to be updated. As popular as the media was during that time, the bay area was lacking an instant broadcasting system. Also, the city of San Francisco reflected a lot of damage to the buildings, especially in the Marina district. It should be known that the Marina district experienced the most damage in San Francisco as many of the buildings were built upon the ash and rubble of the 1906 earthquake. In the present, the USGS or US Geological Survey, has made earthquake information more readily available through there website, and media broadcast. Stricter building codes have also been put in place to prevent building from instantly collapsing from the shock waves of the earthquake.
The most important question that one should ask themselves, with improvements in fire and rescue services, warning systems, and future preventions: “Is the Bay Area now safe?” Sadly, all of these precautions have improved the police/ fire and rescue, and fortified buildings but certain areas around the bay are still vulnerable. Most USGS geologists believe that a bigger and more devastating earthquake is destined to strike the bay area between 1990 and 2020. Upon the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, hopefully, society has learned from their mistakes in order to prepare for another future incident.
References
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1999/fs151-99/
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-29/
Pictures from:Google.com
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