Safe in the 'Hood: Earthquake Preparedness in Midcity Los Angeles

Abstract

Is it possible to demonstrate a link between a pilot public awareness program for earthquake-related education and an increase in community safety, preparedness, and loss prevention efforts? This paper describes a pilot earthquake education, preparedness and mitigation project, the “ANNA-SCEC Earthquake Watch,” funded in part by the University of Southern California Neighborhood Outreach nonprofit corporation and Southern California Earthquake Center, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. The yearlong project targeted residents in a neighborhood located in the heart of Los Angeles. Together they cohosted presentations by earthquake experts at monthly neighborhood association meetings, created a neighborhood earthquake response and recovery plan, learned how to start earthquake-related small businesses, and conducted a public earthquake safety fair that attracted hundreds of residents and local media coverage. They distributed published information on earthquake preparedness and leveraged available funds to help other neighborhoods start similar programs. Preproject and postproject research was conducted to document the effectiveness of the project.