Premium
In California, Emergencies are One Thing We Do Well
Author(s) -
Sturdivan Gary
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2011.tb11453.x
Subject(s) - mile , government (linguistics) , guardian , san andreas fault , geography , history , archaeology , political science , fault (geology) , law , geology , seismology , philosophy , linguistics , geodesy
This article discusses California's Shakeout and Golden Guardian 2008, the largest emergency response exercise ever undertaken in U.S. history. Participants included California's government agencies, water and wastewater utilities, and 5 million residents. The exercise was planned around the scenario of a 7.8‐magnitude earthquake occurring on a 200‐mile section of the southern San Andreas Fault, starting at the Salton Sea and migrating west to Lake Hughes, north of Los Angeles. The devastation in Southern California would be catastrophic, affecting millions of people. The damage inflicted on California's residents, infrastructure, and economy would forever change the face of California and the U.S. as a whole. The article discusses lessons learned from the exercise.