The Cupertino Courier
Cover Story
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Donna Austin keeps a backpack filled with emergency supplies in each of her family member's cars to prepare for three or more days without water or food if an earthquake or other emergency strikes. A first aid kit that includes prescription medicines is also a good idea, according to the Red Cross.
Shaky Ground
Cupertino urged to ready for the 'Big One'
By HUGH BIGGAR
Cupertino resident Donna Austin had just driven home from the pool, wrapped in a towel, when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit. She arrived home to find swaying trees and toppled chimneys on her block.
"The phones went dead," she says. "There were no street lights [working], and for four days we were on our own with no communications."
Austin's experience could be considered a dress rehearsal for the next, possibly more powerful, earthquake.
The Association of Bay Area Governments and the U.S. Geological Survey have released new online maps simulating the likely intensity of a future earthquake. The simulation maps forecast Cupertino will experience among the most intense shaking from a Bay Area earthquake with a magnitude 6.7 or more. A powerful earthquake could make the 7.1-magnitude 1989 Loma Prieta quake seem like a gentle hug in comparison.
"A powerful earthquake is a very serious concern," says Dick Volpe, a civil engineer with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. "The U.S. Geological Survey has done a commendable job of presenting the hazards in clear terms."
Due to their location, Cupertino and Santa Rosa stand out on the maps as earthquake hotspots in the nine-county Bay Area.
Cupertino sits on soft ground in the approximate center of a basin extending 35 miles in the Santa Clara Valley, from Palo Alto to Los Gatos and from Sunnyvale west to the mountains--mountains formed by the area's constantly shifting geology. Due to that geology, in the event of a quake from that geology, Cupertino's soft sedimentary soil causes ground shaking to be amplified, much like water in a bowl. As a part of that process, the oval-shaped Cupertino Basin concentrates seismic shocks and intensifies them.
In addition to the nearby San Andreas Fault, Cupertino is also close to the Shannon-Monte Vista thrust fault (ground moving over other ground), which angles through the west side of the Santa Clara Valley. The Shannon-Monte Vista fault is capable of producing big earthquakes but has long periods of inactivity.
"It's not capable of anything approaching the San Andreas fault," Volpe says of the fault.
Scientists also reported the discovery of other, active seismic zones in the Cupertino Basin in 2004.
In the event of a 6.7 magnitude or greater earthquake, the simulation maps show Cupertino to be coded red, signaling vulnerability to very strong shaking. A few sites in Cupertino's hills are a darker shade of red, signaling violent shaking.
Such shaking makes the buildings and homes in the community vulnerable, as well as the earthen dam at Stevens Creek Reservoir.
All of this leaves local residents living on shaky ground.
Getting ready
"We encourage citizens to be more prepared," says Marsha Hovey, Cupertino's director of emergency preparedness. "They need to take a basic three-hour class on how to prepare."
Hovey says only 200 residents have taken the class.
"Everyone needs to take it," she says.
Hovey also encouraged residents to have provisions ready.
"City staff is adamant residents have a three-day supply of food and water," she says, since residents can expect be on their own for at least that long.
In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Hovey says, the damage was not significant.
Despite damage and casualties caused by that quake, including collapsed homes and ruptured surfaces on Highway 280, the U.S. Geological Survey says on its website that the Bay Area was by and large spared--with the epicenter located in the sparsely populated Santa Cruz Mountains. The U.S.G.S. predicts the next large earthquake--which the agency estimates is 62 percent likely to happen by 2032--will take place in a more populous area between San Jose and Santa Rosa.
Even with the relatively small destruction caused in Cupertino in 1989, Hovey says city services were overwhelmed for at least eight hours.
"If there was a major event, many problems could easily have calls backed up for at least three days," Hovey says.
What about that dam?
On a more positive note, though, both Hovey and Santa Clara Valley Water District officials say the earthen Stevens Creek Dam, just 21/2 miles from the San Andreas Fault in the hills above Cupertino, should not rupture.
Mike di Marco, a spokesman for the water district, says the dam is inspected regularly and has been retrofitted. He also says height barriers have been installed on the dam to contain any tsunami-like wave action.
"It is designed to withstand a major earthquake equal to San Francisco's 1906 magnitude of 7.9, or 60 seconds of shaking," says Volpe, who has consulted on seismic issues for the water district since the 1970s.
Just in case there are problems with the 71-year old dam, Volpe says, the water district has a post-earthquake assessment team in place. Following an earthquake, water district employees would go immediately to the dam to assess damage and report back to an emergency operations center. From there, the center would relay the information to emergency responders in the community, such as police officers.
To prepare for a possible powerful earthquake, Volpe encourages residents and business owners to do the basics, such as strapping water heaters to the wall, knowing how to turn off gas and water at the source and securing heavy furniture. If the earth starts to move, taking shelter beneath a heavy table and moving with it will help protect you from falling masonry such as fireplace bricks, say preparedness experts. That secured hot water can be a 40-gallon source of water.
"It is much more soothing to stick your head in the sand and not do anything," Volpe says, "but the old Boy Scout rule applies: Better safe than sorry."
Earthquake veteran is prepared
Austin says she is ready.
"In our neighborhood, we have an earthquake drill once a year," she says. "Since we were on our own for four days in 1989, I keep supplies in my car, including bottled water, some canned goods and a first-aid kit." Keeping a supply of prescription medications on hand is also a good idea, according to the Red Cross.
Austin's De Anza Circle neighborhood holds an annual earthquake preparedness drill that includes using walkie-talkies to communicate and simulating how to free someone trapped beneath a heavy object.
Hovey encourages others to be equally prepared--and, in the event of a major quake, to volunteer.
"We need more manpower," she says. "There is something for everyone to do, from answering phones to preparing food."
Training offered
The city of Cupertino offers training to become a part of the Community Emergency Response Team. The city's emergency staff, firefighters and others train CERT volunteers in such techniques as basic first aid, earthquake preparedness, damage assessment, search and rescue, fire suppression, neighborhood and home preparedness, constructing an earthquake kit and disaster psychology.
According to Hovey, there are only about 200 active CERT volunteers out of the approximately 800 individuals who completed the training. Hovey said enrollment in the class peaks to as many as 60 students after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, but most times the class has about 25 students.
"We particularly need more medical personnel," she says.
At the very minimum, Hovey advises residents to familiarize themselves with the city's emergency preparedness plans.
"Residents should educate themselves," she urges.
Austin, former board president of the Cupertino Historical Society, said the potential for destruction in the next big earthquake has increased compared to the earthquake that leveled much of San Francisco in 1906.
"There was very little here in 1906," she says. "It was mostly just orchards. Now, [with all the buildings and people] you just don't know what will happen."
To view the Association of Bay Area Government simulation maps and to learn how to prepare a home or business for an earthquake, visit www.quake.abag.ca.gov.
To learn more about Cupertino's emergency preparedness workshops, visit, www.cupertino.org/cupertino_liv ing/community_outreach/emergency_preparedness/index.asp.
For earthquake preparedness information, call the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the American Red Cross at 408.577.1000.
