When an earthquake hits, it startles everyone and it catches us unexpected. It is also hard to know how much damage it will cause. Sometimes, it doesn't cause much harm while other times it does. As long as we are prepared and know how to handle it we will be okay. Our city officials will have a plan on how to communicate, prepare, recovery and how the mitigation goes. .
Napa Valley Earthquake.
An earthquake is one of the most frightening and destructive disasters. It is even worse when it is a severe earthquake. Even though earthquakes, are more prominent in California, all 50 states and 5 U.S. territories are at some risk for earthquakes. Earthquakes can happen at any time of the year. An earthquake is "the sudden, rapid shaking of the earth, caused by the breaking and shifting of subterranean rock as it releases strain that has accumulated over a long time (www.ready.gov/earthquakes)." The shaking happens due to planes or what we call faults. The website consr.gov gives the following definition of faults: "Faults are planes of weakness in the earth's crust where one side has moved relative to the other. They are recognized and mapped by sheared and displaced rock units and by the distinctive landforms created by repeated rupture of the earth's surface (www.consrv.ca.gov)." .
On August 24, 2014 at around 3:20 a.m. a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck six miles southwest of Napa California. It is considered one of the strongest earthquakes to hit in 25 years in northern California and it did injuring dozens of people, damaging historic buildings in downtown Napa and turning fireplaces into rubble (www.cnn.com)." Let's take a look at how everything was handled through the Emergency Management Principles.
The damage that this earthquake did was bad. It is estimated that $362.4 million was the loss. Not to mention that historical buildings were damaged, gas lines were leaking and many lost power.