An Assessment of the Consequences and Preparations for a Catastrophic California Earthquake: Findin

An Assessment of the
Consequences and Preparations
for a Catastrophic California
Earthquake: Findings and
Actions Taken

The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Assessment of the Consequences
and
Preparations for a Catastrophic California Earthquake: Findings and
Actions Taken, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone
anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You
may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project
Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org
Title: An Assessment of the Consequences and Preparations for a
Catastrophic California Earthquake: Findings and Actions Taken
Prepared By Federal Emergency Management Agency
Author: Various
Release Date: June 7, 2006 [EBook #18527]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE ***

Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team at http://www.pgdp.net

* * * * *
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's
Note: | | | | In this document, italics are represented as underscores, | |
=bold text= is marked with equals signs, and bullets are | | represented
as » | | | | One of the tables in this document is very wide (80 characters)
| | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
* * * * *

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSEQUENCES AND
PREPARATIONS FOR A CATASTROPHIC CALIFORNIA
EARTHQUAKE: FINDINGS AND ACTIONS TAKEN
PREPARED BY FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
AGENCY FROM ANALYSES CARRIED OUT BY THE
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL ad hoc COMMITTEE ON
ASSESSMENT OF CONSEQUENCES AND PREPARATIONS FOR
A MAJOR CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE

[Illustration: fema symbol federal emergency management agency]
Washington, D.C. 20472 November 1980

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
CHAPTER:
I. Executive Summary of Findings, Issues, and Actions 1
II. Geologic Earthquake Scenarios 15
III. Assessment of Losses for Selected Potential California Earthquakes
21
IV. An Assessment of the Current State of Readiness Capability of
Federal, State, and Local Governments for Earthquake Response 27
V. An Assessment of the Social Impacts 35
ANNEX:
1. Copies of Correspondence Between President Carter and Governor
Brown 37
2. Current California and Federal Earthquake Response Planning 43
3. California Assembly Bill No. 2202 53
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 57
CHAPTER I
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, ISSUES, AND ACTIONS
A. BACKGROUND
After viewing the destruction wrought by the eruption of Mt. St. Helens
in Washington State in May 1980, President Carter became concerned
about the impacts of a similar event of low probability but high damage
potential, namely a catastrophic earthquake in California, and the state
of readiness to cope with the impacts of such an event.

As a result of the President's concern, an ad hoc committee of the
National Security Council was formed to conduct a government review
of the consequences of, and preparation for such an event. In addition
to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Committee
included representatives from the Office of Science and Technology
Policy, the United States Geological Survey of the Department of the
Interior, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation,
and the National Communications System, at the Federal level; State of
California agencies and California local governments at the State and
local levels; and consultants from the private sector. During the
summer of 1980, the participants in this review prepared working
papers on relevant issues and problem areas for the consideration of the
ad hoc committee. Pertinent facts, conclusions and recommendations
were reviewed with the Governor of the State of California. The
President reviewed the ad hoc committee's findings and approved the
recommendations for Federal action. This report summarizes the results
of the assessment and notes these actions.
A number of Federal legislative and administrative actions have been
taken to bring about, in the near future, an increased capability to
respond to such an event. The Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of
1977 (P.L. 95-124) authorizes a coordinated and structured program to
identify earthquake risks and prepare to lessen or mitigate their impacts
by a variety of means. The coordination of this program, the National
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), is the responsibility
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is
charged with focusing Federal efforts to respond to emergencies of all
types and lessen their impacts before they occur. The NEHRP has six
high-priority thrusts:
» Overall coordination of Federal departments and agencies' programs
» Maintenance of a comprehensive program of research and
development for earthquake prediction and hazards mitigation
» Leadership and support of the Federal Interagency Committee on
Seismic Safety in Construction as it develops seismic design and
construction standards for use in Federal projects

» Development of response plans and assistance to State and local
governments in the preparation of their plans
» Analysis of the ability of financial institutions to perform their
functions after a creditable prediction of an earthquake as well as after
an event, together with an exploration of the feasibility of