New USGS booklet aims to raise earthquake awareness New USGS booklet aims to raise earthquake awareness (November 16, 2005)

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

Hurricane Katrina poses a dark question: Are we ready for the next earthquake?

We all know we live in earthquake country. Most of us have lots of bits and pieces of advice. But we haven't done everything to prepare.

Now, a new, 31-page booklet tells everything from how earthquakes work to how to prepare and what to do when the ground starts shaking.

It's titled, "Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country: Your Handbook for the San Francisco Bay Region."

"Quakes are inevitable in the Bay Area and will likely come without warning," said Mary Lou Zoback, senior earthquake scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park. "Our goal with this handbook is to motivate Bay Area citizens to take simple steps now to make their families, homes, schools and workplaces safer before the next quake or disaster hits."

Close to a million copies of the free booklet have been distributed, including 500,000 with the San Francisco Chronicle on September 18. More are planned as the region prepares for the 100th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake.

The booklet was issued by the USGS and prepared in cooperation with 11 other agencies involved with earthquakes, including the American Red Cross.

Over the next three years, the Red Cross plans to help families in the Bay Area prepare for a large earthquake, said Harold Brooks, CEO of the Bay Area Chapter. "This handbook will play an important part in our training efforts," he said.

Orders for multiple copies have been flowing into the USGS, Dr. Zoback noted.

"We're getting a real grassroots response," she said. "One auto body shop ordered 10 copies," she said. "One of my personal favorites: a request from the Solano County Jail" -- where copies were ordered for 200 inmates.

The free handbook can be viewed online by entering in Google: Bay Area earthquake roots.

Free copies can be ordered from the Red Cross Bay Area Chapter at 1-510-595-4459. For more than 10 paper copies, e-mail Susan Garcia at garcia@usgs.gov.

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