Ridgecrest Quakes Have Direct Lesson For Malibu Fire Victims
Written by 991KBU on July 8, 2019
The pair of very large earthquakes that struck the Ridgecrest area over the Fourth of July weekend have definite lessons for Malibu.
Seismologist Lucy Jones said yesterday that this size quake can be expected locally.
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“This size earthquake on something like the Hollywood Fault … or the Puente Hills … or the Baldwin Hills … the Newport-Inglewood … or the Santa Monica… or the Palos Verdes … or the Whittier — you notice we got a few choices??? —all of those are ones capable of a 7.
“And instead of having 20,000 people living near the earthquake we would be having a couple million people living near the earthquake.
“To be a magnitude of 7 means the fault is going to be about 25 miles long.”
One of those faults on Doctor Jones’s laundry list was the Santa Monica Fault ,,, which extends west as the Malibu Coastal Fault … and further west as the Anacapa Fault system.
That’s the one that gave Malibu it’s largest recent earthquakes … the magnitude 5.3 quake of April of last year … and the magnitude 3.6 quake last month.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday … structural engineer association spokesman Ken O’Dell said California building codes are much stronger now than they were even a decade ago.
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“We learn things from earthquakes constantly, enter codes developed constantly … and our codes develop constantly.
“So our modern code buildings today, they are still going to experience significant damage in a code level magnitude -7 earthquake on the Hollywood fault.”
And this is of issue in Malibu … where some homeowners are not happy that the city would not allow them to rebuild using an existing foundation.
Not even taking into account the possibility of fire damage concrete … City building inspectors say foundations built in the 1970s earlier simply do not meet current building codes.
So how big was the earthquake as felt here in Malibu???
Seismologist Lucy Jones … at yesterday’s news conference.
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“On the China Lake Naval Air Station … they were recording intensity 9 … which is what we had in Northridge in the Northridge earthquake.
“Here in Los Angeles we experienced intensity 3 … which means most people feel it but if you’re walking around you don’t.”
The USGS says there is a 35% chance of a magnitude 6.5 earthquake with an epicenter here in Malibu … in the next twenty-five years or so.
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The U S Navy has relocated active duty personnel from China Lake to the Naval Base-Ventura County.
Non-essential active duty military, drilling reservists, civilian employees and authorized dependents are being relocated to Port Hueneme from the China Lake Vaval Weapons Station.
The two Navy bases are jointly administered.
China Lake has 200 personnel assigned to it.
Naval Base Ventura County was prepared to take them all, though the numbers weren’t expected to be nearly that high.
The Port Hueneme base is about 25 miles up the coast from Malibu.
