The most likely nature disaster Rossmoor and the local area will experience is an earthquake. And because of our proximity to the ocean, we need to be aware of the effects of the tsunamis big quakes can generate. Preparing ahead of time for earthquakes is a key step in recovering from them. Knowing the best ways to survive the quake itself is also a critical step in being prepared.
Once you have your basic emergency kits and information together, take a few minutes and review the resources and information below to help ensure you and your family are as prepared as possible for when the next big quake jolts our lives.
Earthquake Preparation
The How to Prepare for an Earthquake guide is part of the material provided by the Great California ShakeOut organization. California holds its ShakeOut event in mid October each year and the RHA Emergency Prep Team encourages you to participate too.
Here are a number of additional guides covering most specific needs and situations for your reference:
Stay Safe When the Earth Shakes (SoCal edition)
Quick videos on what to do in an earthquake
Safety Action for Parents and Care Providers of children & infants
The Basics
In MOST situations, you will reduce your chance of injury if you:
COVERÂ your head and neck with one arm and hand
- If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter
- If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall (away from windows)
- Stay on your knees; bend over to protect vital organs
HOLD ONÂ until shaking stops
- Under shelter: hold on to it with one hand; be ready to move with your shelter if it shifts
- No shelter: hold on to your head and neck with both arms and hands.
Why Drop, Cover, and Hold On? This special report explains why official rescue teams, emergency preparedness experts, and others recommend “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” as the best way, in most situations, to protect yourself during earthquake shaking.
RHA Great California Shakeout Presentation
In October 2013 the Rossmoor Homeowners Association hosted a Town Hall meeting in the Community Center at Rush Park.
On behalf of all Rossmoor residents and the surrounding communities, we want to extend a huge thank you to Cheryl Williamsen who put dozens of hours of time and effort into coordinating and facilitating this two hour event.
Please Note: the CALEMA link specified in the video has changed to: http://www.caloes.ca.gov/Cal-OES-Divisions/Planning-Preparedness
Tsunami Inundation and Rossmoor
On the subject of Tsunamis, based on the California Geological Survey (CGS) Rossmoor is not likely to get inundated by tsunami waters (see the focus inundation map to the right, the Los Alamitos-Seal Beach map, and the full Orange County inundation map here). However, that does not in any way mean we should not know about and prepare for tsunami conditions. You could be in Seal Beach or other coastal area when a quake and resulting tsunami occur. Remember too, distant quakes can cause tsunami waves on our local beaches. Both the 2010 Chilean 8.8 quake and the 2011 9.0 magnitude quake in Japan caused damage to California’s shores hours after the quake that caused them.
The USC Tsunami Research Center has the latest research on specific causes and effects. There is an interesting discussion on Tsunamis and the Los Angeles area by Professor Costas Synolakis if you are interests in more scientific detail.
