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Just days after a major 7.9 earthquake shook India causing massive damage and loss of life, the Claremont-Elmwood Neighborhood Association held a meeting to organize community preparation for the earthquake residents know will eventually hit the Bay Area. 

“The reality is it’s coming, but you can do quite a bit to minimize the impact,” Fire Chief Reg Garcia told more than 100 people in the audience at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church on Saturday. 

The city has found that in the case of a major emergency, important relief services such as the fire department and medical services, will be unable to reach all of the areas in need.  

“We’ve found from recent experiences,” said Fire Chief Reg Garcia, “A major disaster will quickly overtax the services.”  

Instead, he emphasized, the most important players in any emergency will be community members. “You’re the people who will decide. Your efforts, your ability to organize, your ability to make a response.” 

Claremont resident Martha Jones, Mayor Shirley Dean’s appointee to the city’s disaster commission, has taken on that role. She first organized earthquake preparedness for her neighborhood in 1995.  

When she realized that at least 30 percent of her neighbors had moved in after the 1995 planning, she decided it was time to organize again. 

To spread out duties, Jones organized the neighborhood into a series of blocks. Each block of nine houses has a block leader to coordinate services and prevention for that neighborhood. 

Fire Chief Garcia said that organized community members can make an enormous difference in lessening the impact of a disaster with both prevention and disaster relief. They should retrofit their homes, bolt bookshelves to the wall, find their gas valves and learn to organize search and rescue efforts and basic first aid. But one important part of preparedness, he said, is receiving the necessary training. 

“What we found is following a major disaster is people will come out to help, they want to help, but if they’re not trained they won’t be effective help,” said Garcia. 

The city of Berkeley is offering free emergency response training in topics such as Disaster First Aid and Search and Rescue. Jones urged the block leaders to make sure someone on their block attended each one of the sessions. 

One of the most dangerous effects of an earthquake is the ensuing fires.  

“As I always say, after we shake, rattle and roll, we’re going to burn,” said Jones.  

Garcia said that residents can help by keeping fire extinguishers, knowing how to turn off gas valves for houses on the block, and by purchasing hoses and learning how to attach them to fire hydrants. 

Beyond community preparedness, Jones urged that residents remember the little things which help people survive an emergency. She urged listeners to put a pair of shoes next to the bed because in an earthquake glass from windows may cover the floor, making walking barefoot impossible. She told them to purchase a crowbar to pry open doors that may stick and trap residents. And she reminded the audience to stockpile enough food and water for between 72 hours and a week.  

“One of the main reasons for organizing,” she said, “is the ability to buy in bulk. If 1,400 houses buy fire extinguishers they’re able to do it inexpensively.”  

The same holds true for water drums and Meals Ready to Eat — full meals with a long shelf life.  

The city of Berkeley was named a model community for earthquake preparedness, Mayor Dean said at the meeting. And, she said, focusing on preparedness continues to be necessary. 

A 1999 study by the US Geologic Survey found a 70 percent risk of a major earthquake in the Bay Area over the next thirty years. The Bay Area is situated on two different tectonic plates, which are moving in opposite directions at a rate of two inches per year. Eventually the earth cracks along fault lines. One such fault line, the Hayward fault, runs directly through the city of Berkeley. Of the all the various fault lines in the Bay Area, the Hayward fault has, at 30 percent, the highest risk of failure. 

David Schwartz, Earthquake Geologist and Chief of the Bay Area’s Earthquake Hazard’s Project presented the data about earthquake risks. He said that Bay Area residents consider themselves earthquake experts, but the region has experienced comparatively few earthquakes in the past hundred years compared to earlier centuries. The severe 1906 earthquake reduced much of the stress in the ground.  

A map prepared by the Department of the Interior shows 33 earthquakes over 5.5 in the 68 years between 1838 and 1906. In the 94 years between 1906 and 2000, however, the Bay Area has only experienced 11 earthquakes of similar size. He said that Bay Area residents may expect many more quakes in the next century. 

Heeding the ominous figures, Martha Jones follows her own creed of disaster preparedness. She keeps supplies of food and in extra pair of tennis shoes at her home, office and in her car. Just in case. 

To attend a free Emergency Response Training, or get assistance in organizing earthquake preparedness, call of the office of Emergency Services at 644-8736.