200 North Spring Street, Room 1533, Los Angeles, CA 90012 • Telephone: 213-978-2222 / TTY: 213-473-6296
CONTACT:	Carol Parks (213) 978-0532		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 6, 2007
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NEWS RELEASE

NEW PROGRAM HELPS RESIDENTS PREPARE FOR MAJOR TREMOR

The City of Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Department today launched a new free program to help qualified residents make their homes and living space more earthquake secure. The program is an important part of the Dare To Prepare campaign, www.daretoprepare.org, with its message of secure your space.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge of the 4th District made the announcement this morning at a news conference hosted at the home of resident Lorna Edger. "We all must prepare for the inevitable." La Bonge said, "This program will help those who are among the most vulnerable become prepared."

The program benefits qualified seniors, low-income or disabled persons throughout Los Angeles. Approximately 100 homes will receive non-structural retrofitting such as the installation of cabinet latches, water heater and television straps, additional smoke detectors and automatic gas shut-off valves. The program is the result of a grant from the American Red Cross, the Allstate Foundation and partnerships with community collaborators and the City of Los Angeles. (To learn more about this new program, contact the Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services at 888-89-LA NHS or 888-895-2647.)

In addition to an in-home demonstration of hazard mitigating measures, and to bring the point home, the "World’s Largest Mobile Earthquake Simulator" (developed by Quakehold!) was brought on-site – a 24' long trailer featuring a sophisticated hydraulic system specifically engineered to simulate varying degrees of earthquake intensity. The Mobile Earthquake Simulator is outfitted to replicate a typical living room, demonstrates what an earthquake can feel like, and shows what can happen to household items that are not secured.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge, Dr. Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey, Cary Van Ausdall of the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles, Mark Benthien of the Southern California Earthquake Center, Brian Lowe of Quakehold!, and Anna M. Burton from the Emergency Preparedness Department were all on hand to lend support and to impress upon each and every Los Angeles resident the need to be prepared.

January 9, 2007 marked the 150th anniversary of the last great San Andreas earthquake in Southern California when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook the entire region and ruptured more than 225 miles of the fault from Central California to the Cajon Pass. Recent developments in earthquake geology confirm the average time between great earthquakes on the southern San Andreas Fault is about 150 years. However, the southernmost segment of the fault has not ruptured in more than 300 years. Scientists agree that a very large earthquake along this segment of the fault is inevitable and will likely be a catastrophic disaster for much of Southern California.

Residents are encouraged to visit www.daretoprepare.org for more tips on securing their space at home, work, school, etc.

The mission of the Emergency Preparedness Department is to provide citywide emergency management program leadership, continuity, and direction to enable the City of Los Angeles and its partners to respond to, recover from, and mitigate the impact of natural, manmade, or technological disasters upon its people or property.