[Los Angeles] County prepared for future disasters[sorta]

http://www.avpress.com/n/21/1221_s10.hts ^ | December 21, 2005 | LISA WAHLA HOWARD

[BenLurkin]

LOS ANGELES - L.A. County needs to do more to prepare for a potential "doomsday scenario" such as a major earthquake or a terrorist attack, according to a report from the county's Office of Emergency Management. The high desert community of Wrightwood is at particular risk in the event of a catastrophic quake.

The report assures, however, that the county is generally prepared to cope with a major emergency.

"This county is well prepared and has done a number of things," said Constance Perett, the administrator of the county's OEM. "That doesn't mean we're perfect, and that doesn't mean there's not work to be done."

The report, requested by county Supervisor Gloria Molina after Hurricane Katrina, identified a major earthquake along the Puente Hills fault or a "dirty bomb" terrorism attack as the potentially most devastating disasters for the county.

"We have to keep in mind, we're not talking about your garden-variety disaster. We're talking about something catastrophic," Perett said.

The probability of the type of earthquake referred to in the report is once every 3,000 years, but such a quake's estimated economic loss would be between $82 billion and $252 billion, according to the report.

That's because the fault is located directly under Los Angeles, said Susan Hough, a seismologist with the U.S. Geologic Survey.

"Its position is ominous because of the population density," Hough said, though she added that the fault has not produced a disastrous quake "in historic time."