A 4.7 magnitude earthquake rattled through the USC campus last Thursday morning. The earthquake, centered near Malibu, was just one of the many earthquakes felt in Los Angeles recently.
For the past century, scientists have been saying that California is due for an earthquake larger than magnitude 6.7, what they call “the big one.” Steven Goldfarb, USC’s Director of Fire Safety, Emergency Management and Business Continuity says it’s not a matter of “if” the big one will hit California, but “when.”
USC has an all-hazards emergency plan and earthquake preparedness is a major part of that plan. Today, students can attend the Safety and Preparedness Fair at the Health Sciences Campus. Goldfarb said that students and faculty are encouraged to participate in the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill on October 17 at 10:17 a.m., where they can practice earthquake safety.
During the Great ShakeOut and at other times of the year, the university’s critical response teams test their equipment, check their supplies and practice how they would respond to an earthquake, according to Goldfarb. He says they have medical supplies, emergency food and water filters ready to go.
The university may have a plan, but some students say they don’t feel personally prepared. Nehir Keskin, a computer science major from Turkey, woke up to the earthquake and said she felt scared.
“I have no idea what to do [if a quake hit USC]…under panic anyone can do anything.”
Sarah Little, an industrial engineering student from North Carolina, thinks that educating out-of-state students about earthquakes would be helpful because, she said, “I don’t know anything about it really.”
Some international students also aren’t familiar with earthquake safety procedures. Ploypetch Pooljun, an MBA student from Thailand, has lived in the United States for only three months. She said she doesn’t know what she should do during an earthquake. She wondered if she should go to the ground floor of her building or stay in her room.
However, even students from California don’t feel confident they’d know what to do if a big earthquake hit. Oliver Wyman, a film student and native Californian grew up hearing about the San Andreas fault line, but never learned how to prepare for an earthquake.
“No, I’d be screwed. I have terrible survival skills. I don’t know what I’d do,” he said.
Some students don’t think earthquake preparedness is talked about enough. “I am a little nervous though. I just feel like we don’t talk about it a lot. So I feel like earthquake preparedness is pretty low...I feel like it’s not really brought up enough considering the high risk potential,” said Sara Bazan, a biological sciences major.
Halo Lyman, a comparative literature and French major, has experienced a few small tornadoes, but doesn’t know what precautions to take during an earthquake other than hiding under a table. She’s had trouble keeping up with university communication.
“Honestly, I don’t read the crazy mass emails they send out, maybe I should. I feel like they would send things that say ‘earthquake preparedness’ in the title though, and I can’t say I’ve seen that,” she said.
Goldfarb was in Los Angeles for the 6.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Northridge in 1994.
“It was a crazy experience, but also an eye opening experience to just how bad it could be,” he said.
He encourages everyone to have at least three days worth of emergency food and water, along with anything you can’t live without, like medication or a spare pair of glasses.
In addition to having an emergency kit, Goldfarb encourages students to have an emergency communication plan with their families. He also suggests students download LiveSafe and MyShake. LiveSafe allows students to contact campus emergency services and MyShake gives earthquake warnings shortly before shaking occurs.
Goldfarb says the university has a plan in case of mass casualties or if there were many injuries on campus at once. He says USC’s response team practices the plan over the summer and they do so annually, but he encourages students to be personally prepared.
Goldfarb said the biggest misconception people have about emergency preparedness is “thinking that their city, their government, their state, their county, is going to do something for them, or an organization like a Red Cross, or something might come in, swoop in and save the day.”
Students who’ve never experienced a large earthquake may not feel as motivated to be prepared, but emergency experts like Goldfarb don’t think it should take a catastrophe to happen to be ready for one.