TITLE
WITHDRAWN
Recommendation to respectfully request City Council request City Attorney to draft a resolution in support of the Great Southern California ShakeOut and that the City encourage its residents, businesses, schools and organizations to sign up online to participate in this important event so that Long Beach can improve its readiness to survive a disaster.
DISCUSSION
At 10 a.m. on November 13, Long Beach can join millions of Southern Californians in the ShakeOut Drill, the largest earthquake preparedness activity in U.S. history! The Great Southern California ShakeOut includes the ShakeOut Drill and other events organized to inspire southern Californians to get ready for big earthquakes, and to prevent disasters from becoming catastrophes.
An enormous earthquake is in Southern California's future, and the ShakeOut Drill is a chance to practice so residents are ready when it happens. ShakeOut is based on a potential magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault-approximately 5,000 times larger than the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that shook southern California on July 29. Dr. Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey has led a group of over 300 scientists, engineers, and others to study the likely consequences of this potential earthquake in great detail. The result is the ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario (urbanearth.usgs.gov), which is also the basis of this year's statewide emergency response exercise, Golden Guardian 2008 (www.ohs.ca.gov). The City of Long Beach is participating in the 2008 Golden Guardian statewide disaster exercise, planned concurrently with The Great Southern California ShakeOut.
The event is being organized by The Earthquake Country Alliance, a partnership of leading earthquake professionals, emergency managers, government officials, business and community leaders, and others. The group has been planning the ShakeOut since 2006. Major organizations include the USGS, Southern California Earthquake Center, California Office of Emergency Services, City of Los Angeles, Art Center College of Design, State Farm, and California Institute of Technology.
City Councils throughout Southern California are being requested to undertake a number of steps to get their cities to fully participate in this important event. A list of activities can be accessed at: http://www.shakeout.org/localgovernments.
Key to this effort is the passing of a resolution in support of this important event and the active encouragement our residents, businesses, schools and organizations to go on line now at http://www.shakeout.org/ and to sign up and to learn how to participate in various ways.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
None.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gerrie Schipske
Councilwoman, Fifth District
Tonia Reyes Uranga
Councilmember, Seventh District