"The Big One"

So I'm sure, if you live in Utah and pay any attention at all, you have heard that the Wasatch Front is over due for a major earthquake It is expected to be 7.0 or greater. I read an article published in the Deseret News back in 2006 about the worst case scenario for WHEN, not if, "The Big One" hits. I think it's so important that we take the necessary steps to ensure safety of ourselves and loved ones as best we can before it's too late. Below are some excerpts from the article... remember, this is all just a prediction and in the worst case scenario...

- It is 2 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2008, a freezing, snowy Friday. Most people are still at work or school — which, unfortunately, is the worst-case scenario for what is about to happen.

The next few seconds will release geologic pressure that built over 13 centuries, and — as scientists had predicted back in 2006 — will soon kill more than 6,000 people, injure 90,000 and cause a $40 billion economic hit.

- Utahns now will find they will need to depend on such preparation for far longer than officials in previous decades had once warned — and may need to survive with their "72-hour" emergency kits for five days or longer.

Police, fire and other emergency responders will be too busy to reach most people for days — so individuals and families will have to rely on themselves and their neighbors for help

- The movement soon leaves a new 10-foot-tall ledge or "scarp" — a height that varies at different points along the fault — as scientists had predicted. The scarp is 29 miles long and now divides areas west and east of it like a great wall. Roads that were once level now have a 10-foot drop-off. Power, water and gas lines there snap.

- Shaking is so severe throughout Salt Lake County that virtually no one there is able to stand without falling. Unsecured hot-water heaters in many homes shake loose and break natural gas and water lines. Fires start.

- Next, the severe shaking makes some saturated, sandy soils act like a liquid, or more accurately like quicksand. This "liquefaction" causes some buildings to sink or roll over in unstable soils. Landslides follow in some areas.

- All this damage has happened in under a minute

- Significantly, as people start looking for help, about a quarter of all area police and fire stations have themselves suffered at least moderate damage and a handful are beyond repair. One emergency communications center in Salt Lake City has been knocked out of service.

About 152,000 people are now newly homeless, and it is a freezing winter day.

- "I think people in our valley have expected to call 911 and have help there in three minutes. But in the event of a catastrophic event, it's not going to happen. People are going to be on their own. It will give new meaning to individual and family preparation."

I'm going to desinate a night within the next few weeks where anyone who wants can come to my house and put their kits together. Let me know if you want to join and I'll get you the information and cost for each pack.

If you want to read the article in its entirety...
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,635199749,00.html?pg=1


Here are some links that I've found very helpful...

Be Ready Utah http://www.bereadyutah.gov
U of U seismograph stations(best site for research and information): http://www.seis.utah.edu/
Local Quake Threat: http://www.quake.utah.edu/lqthreat/threat.shtml
Liquefaction potential maps: http://www.quake.utah.edu/lqthreat/liquefaction.shtml