Bay Area takes lessons from Napa quake

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee discussed South Napa earthquake recovery and San Francisco's emergency preparedness and resiliency efforts during a meeting with the disaster council at the department of emergency management operations center in San Francisco on Thursday.

Council members, earthquake recovery experts, local politicians and social media groups attended the meeting.

According to Lee's update: at 3:20 am on Sunday, Aug 24, a magnitude-6.0 earthquake occurred northwest of American Canyon in Napa Valley. Shaking was felt up to 100 miles away - as far south as Salina, east to Sacramento and north to Ukiah.

According to a report released by the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM), there have since been more than 90 aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 0.6 to 3.6.

The University of California-Berkeley Seismological Laboratory's detection system gave about eight seconds of early warning before the earthquake happened last Sunday morning, said Richard Allen of the UC-Berkeley lab.

Two shelters were opened after the earthquake: one in Napa church and one at a Vallejo senior center, according to the mayor.

Students in Napa County have already returned to classes as schools have reopened in Napa, Rob Dudgeon, deputy director of SFDEM, said at the meeting.

"While thankfully, San Francisco suffered no damage, this is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that we need to be prepared for the next earthquake or emergency," said Lee, adding that San Francisco was a resilient city.

"Let's not wait until the next disaster, let's be prepared today," Lee said.

David Chiu, president of the board of supervisors of San Francisco, said: "We believe that California has a high probability of having a larger earthquake during the next 30 years," adding that it would be bigger than the 6.0-magnitute Napa earthquake.

Anne Kronenberg, executive director of the SFDEM, told China Daily that as far as she knew, there were no serious injuries or damage in Chinese communities. "Most of the damage in Napa county was in the downtown area, which is primarily senior citizens," she said.

"I think the most important thing to prepare for an earthquake is to have enough water in your house. It is very likely that people cannot access water after earthquakes and everyone needs it," added Kronenberg.

After the Napa earthquake, the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco announced that they didn't receive any reports indicating that there were any Chinese citizens injured, adding that Chinese citizens in the San Francisco Bay Area should take precautions against strong aftershocks in the coming week.

zilian@chinadailyusa.com