A swarm of earthquakes emanating from the nearby Puente Hills faultline on Friday night caused no major damage in Long Beach, but reminded city residents to be prepared for future quakes.
The 5.1 tremblor, which hit near the Orange County cities of La Habra and Brea at 9:09PM, was preceeded an hour before by a 3.6 quake and followed by at least 20 aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Friday’s swarm followed several other mid-sized earthquakes that hit the greater Los Angeles area over the last few weeks.
Though there is no immediate threat to Long Beach, the City of Long Beach says they are prepared to respond to earthquakes and other similarly unexpected events through the City’s Disaster Management Bureau, which was formed to centralize the City’s disaster management and preparedness functions.
Through the Disaster Management Bureau, collaboration between all City departments and their county, state and federal counterparts is streamlined in the event of an emergency. However, authorities urge residents to be prepared themselves, by forming an evacuation plan and keeping an emergency kit that includes enough food, water and other supplies to survive for at least five days after an emergency.
Tsunami Preparedness Week, which culminated last Friday, was also a reminder of Long Beach’s vulnerability should such an event occur. Even with the city’s south-facing beach protecting it from tsunamis coming from the west, maps from the California Geological Survey as well as the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and USC show that portions of Belmont Shore and Naples remain especially succeptable to flooding in the event of an earthquake.
For more information on how you can prepare yourself and your family for emergencies, visit http://bit.ly/BePreparedLongBeach.