Is the Gulf region ready for the “big”?

On Monday, around 6:30 p.m., a 3.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Bay Area, causing Mooney and Bart to delay and disrupt their quiet dinner hour.

While earthquakes are common in the area, they are a chilling reminder of the looming threat of natural disaster. In the next 30 years, the Bay Area has a 72% chance of experiencing a magnitude 6.7 earthquake and a 20% chance of experiencing a catastrophic 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

The threat is exacerbated by “soft-storied” buildings – structures lacking a strong first floor – throughout the Bay Area. They suffer particularly high rates of collapse during large earthquakes.

In general, the region took these threats seriously. Besides passing increased regulations for potentially hazardous buildings in 2014, the city of Berkeley created a simple unstable building retrofit program. The program boasts an 85% success rate, and under the property-estimated Clean Energy Finance Program, property owners can easily find loans for seismic retrofits. Berkeley also offers retrofit grants to owners of soft-storied buildings. The surrounding cities of San Francisco and Oakland also mandate seismic adjustments for soft-storied buildings.

However, according to a USGS report, 39 of San Francisco’s highest elevations are highly vulnerable to a major earthquake, including the cluster of buildings at the Embarcadero Center, the Pacific Gas and Electric Building, the Transamerica Pyramid, and the Hilton San Francisco. San Francisco Marriott Hotel. Lives are at risk every day that passes without seismic adjustments.

Unfortunately, seismic retrofitting alone may not be enough to protect Bay Area residents.

For example, only 10% of Californians have earthquake insurance, and it is excluded from standard insurance plans for homeowners and renters. If a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits the Bay Area, tens of billions of dollars in damage will fall on the shoulders of the uninsured population. In areas highly prone to earthquakes, local officials should educate the public about earthquake insurance and pressure insurance companies to include earthquake coverage in their standard plans.

Bay Area residents need to be proactive in protecting their personal safety – creating a preparedness plan with colleagues and community members and gathering an earthquake kit is a good place to start. Downloading the MyShake app can help researchers study, analyze and predict future earthquakes.

Earthquakes pay little attention to the man-made border between Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. All residents of the Bay Area – no matter what city they reside in – should benefit from the highest level of earthquake preparedness. Many buildings are unsafe, few Californians have access to earthquake insurance and not every household has an individual emergency plan. While Berkeley has made serious strides in retrofitting programs and San Francisco and Oakland have followed suit, complacency should be avoided.

Proactive actions taken today may save lives tomorrow.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board as written by our Summer 2021 opinion editor, Sarah Siegel.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.dailycal.org/2021/07/01/is-the-bay-area-region-ready-for-the-big-one/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos