JOLTING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTO PREPAREDNESS WITH EARTHQUAKE KITS

By the time most southern Californians reach college age, they generally have an awareness that Southern California is earthquake prone and that the San Andreas Fault is capable of producing "The Big One." However, earthquake preparedness has become “duck and cover” rather than preparation for the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Instead of solely lecturing to geology classes the importance of preparing a cache of disaster supplies, students are better served by demonstration of the concept through requisite preparation of an earthquake kit as a graded assignment.

At the start of the spring 2010 semester, a poll of 80 Pasadena City College physical geology students showed that seven had earthquake kits; of those seven, five had taken previous iterations of the course. These numbers have been consistent for similar classes over the past four years. The physical geology curriculum includes discussion of the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault, likelihood of future earthquakes, and a discussion of the tectonic forces behind fault motion. Regardless, similar polls held at the end of prior semesters showed roughly the same ratio of prepared versus unprepared students. To combat this apathy, students were required to prepare a “starter” earthquake kit consisting of several basic emergency items (flashlight, radio, trash bags, first aid kit), warm clothing, paperwork, a map of the gas shut off valve at home, a three day supply of water and food, and a short essay describing the importance of each item in the kit. While the immediate increase in percentage of earthquake kit-equipped students is inherently obvious, many former students have given unsolicited praise for the assignment, many going so far as to prepare additional kits for loved ones. These comments are usually precipitated by any mention of earthquakes in the media.

The act of preparing an earthquake kit is demonstrably more effective a pedagogical tool than discussion alone. Preparation of an earthquake kit should be a required portion of the physical sciences breadth requirement for a Bachelor’s Degree earned from California colleges and universities.