The L.A. City Council last week proposed a statewide earthquake bond ballot measure that would help local governments receive funding to upgrade older concrete buildings with new earthquake safety improvements.
The proposal came after the Los Angeles Times reported more than 1,000 concrete buildings in the City of Angels were at risk for structural failure when a major earthquake hits.
Back in September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an earthquake early warning system bill that directs the Office of Emergency Services to develop an advanced warning system by Jan. 2016. Senate Bill 135, introduced by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacolma, would direct the agency to “develop a comprehensive statewide earthquake early warning system” and to come up with a way to fund the system. The upgrade is expected to cost the state $80 million.
San Benito County has quite a few fault lines, including Calaveras, Sargent, Quien Sabe, Ortigalita and San Andreas. And with those fault lines comes the threat of earthquakes.
San Benito County has several notification systems – but only after the fact, said Jim Clark, the emergency services director at the Office of Emergency Services in Hollister, in a phone interview Monday.
He said that 911 offices in Santa Cruz push out messages to the public after earthquakes. Additionally, the county is working with United Way to install a “211 system” that would provide predetermined, non-emergency messages to the community.
In 1989, a 7.0 earthquake hit Hollister and San Benito County, devastating the city of Hollister and other towns and cities in the area.
