SoCal Earthquakes Have Bay Area Residents In A Rush To Get Prepared
BERKELEY (KPIX 5) - The recent earthquakes in Southern California were enough to get Berkeley resident Sam Kohn to take stock of what he had at home. He bought an earthquake preparedness kit at Ace Hardware, in downtown Berkeley.
"This combined with the wildfires is just kind of building to like - well it's not unreasonable to think that we might all have to leave for a weekend or that the power going to get shut off if PG&E shuts off the power," Kohn said.
It is recommended that you have a minimum of three days' worth of supplies. On top of food and water, it is important to have a flashlight, first aid kit, extra batteries, a whistle to signal for help and a wrench or pliers to turn off utilities.
It is also best to store your disaster kit at home, work or in your car.
"The orientation of the fault is very similar to what we see in the Bay Area these are vertical strike slip faults," said USGS Geophysicist Ole Kaven.
The USGS says the Ridgecrest fault orientation is a lot like what we have in the Bay Area.
"The depth of the earthquake is more or less what we would expect in the Bay Area, so the shaking that was felt locally in the Ridgecrest area is very similar to what we would feel in the event of a San Andreas, Hayward or Calaveras event of this magnitude," he said.
Earthquake experts say the likelihood of a larger one in the next couple of days is very small. But there is a good chance that region could get more 5 magnitude aftershocks.
A study from the Public Policy Institute found that in 2014, half of Californians had an earthquake kit.
"The foundation is bolted for our house, of course we had to do that for our insurance way back when we bought our house," said San Francisco resident Linda Zimmerman. "We don't have an earthquake kit, I feel like I should have."
