The San Benito County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau on April 20 put on its third annual “Earthquake Walk” presented by Morgan Hill-based Pacific Geotechnical.
John Feltman from Pacific Geotechnical led the tour – attended by about 20 local residents – and kicked it off with a brief presentation at the chamber office on Sixth Street. He also gave the floor briefly to Zach DeVoe, who is heading up efforts to launch a Community Emergency Response Team group in San Benito County. Participation involves 20 hours of training and assisting police and fire departments in emergency situations.
From the chamber, the tour headed to Dunne Park, at Seventh and West streets, where Feltman talked about examples of fault activity on the sidewalk and road. He pointed out how the Calaveras is a “right lateral” fault – noting that everything shifts north. He answered questions and noted many tidbits about this section of the Calaveras, such as how it moves seven millimeters per year, causing offset on some houses nearby. He also passed around a poster board showing after effects of the 1906 earthquake locally, one picture illustrating impacts on the San Andreas Fault near the Nyland Ranch.
“That’s due to creep in the San Andreas Fault,” he said.
From Seventh and West streets, the tour moved across the park, outside a home on Sixth Street, where the presenter underscored impacts shown outside those properties, including a jagged wall, and talked about the increasingly complex nature of building codes due to earthquakes in California.
“The code is constantly being updated,” he said.
