California Earthquake Preparedness Survey

The California Earthquake Preparedness Survey (CEPS) was conducted by the UCLA School of Public Health and Survey Research Center for the State of California. The objective was to provide baseline data describing how prepared California households are for earthquakes and where they get their information about preparedness and mitigation.

Telephone interviews were conducted with a representative sample of 2,081 households in California between June 26 and December 18, 2008. The sample was stratified into: the ten northern California counties at greatest risk of earthquakes, the six southern California counties at greatest risk, and the remaining 42 lower-risk counties. MORE INFO...

Tri-City Medical Center Seeking Seismic Solution

The CA Office of Statewide Hospital Planning and Development uses HAZUS-MH to determine the likelihood that buildings will collapse in an earthquake. MORE INFO

The San Diego area Tri-City Medical Center is trying to get the state office to permit a new testing of Tri-City's affected buildings by drilling into the concrete core to establish its stability and are asking state officials to re-evaluate the condition of the buildings so they would have until 2030 to make the required upgrades. READ MORE

California's water supply vulnerable to quakes, floods

The California Department of Water Resources has just released a study that concludes there is a 40 percent chance that a major earthquake will flood 27 delta islands between now and 2030, costing billions in repairs and knocking out the water source for 25 million Californians for more than a year.

Without intervention, it is estimated that about 140 levees of California's could fail in the next century due to storms or rising seas. An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater could result in fatalities, flooding of islands and costs of $15 billion. In California levees have failed about 160 times in the past 109 years. READ MORE

California Department of Water Resources: Delta Risk Management Strategy - Final Phase 1 Report

Soil Liquefaction During Earthquakes Technical Seminar

Register now for a day-long seminar to be given in Pasadena, CA on March 10th by I. M. Idriss and R. W. Boulanger, authors of the recently published EERI monograph sent to all members in 2008, Soil Liquefaction During Earthquakes. Participants earn 0.7 Continuing Education Units. MORE

Register on-line for class

Magnitude 5.1 earthquake hits near Ludlow, in San Bernardino County

A moderate earthquake struck California's Mojave Desert on Friday night / December 5, 2008. Effects were felt from San Diego to Los Angeles.

USGS reports say the 5.1-magnitude temblor struck just outside Ludlow on Interstate 40 in San Bernardino County, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles. MORE

Engineers Work To Make Historic Buildings Safer During Strong Earthquakes

Recent simulated earthquake tests conducted by UC San Diego engineers are expected to lead to retrofit schemes that make historic buildings safer. The structural engineers tested a structure similar to those that were built in California in the 1920s that have masonry-infilled walls and reinforced concrete frames. READ MORE