Guest Opinion: After the Great Tremor: Take the Next Step in Earthquake Preparation | News, sports, jobs

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Nancy Dragani

Denver – Living on the Great Plains and Mount West, there are a lot of dangers we are used to dealing with – harsh winters, severe storms, wildfires and floods. There are other natural hazards that don’t come to mind easily. The same forces that produce our amazing mountain ranges are also responsible for causing earthquakes. From Bitterroot to the Tetons, from Sangre de Cristo to Wasatch, fault lines run through much of our part of the country. These areas of increased pressure create the potential for major earthquakes. Only in recent years have we seen earthquakes in Magna, Utah, in 2020, and Lincoln, Montana, in 2017.

On October 20, the annual Great Tremor exercise took place in communities across the country and around the world with the participation of more than 20 million people. Shake is a preparedness exercise that focuses on the steps you should take in the event of an earthquake, “Fall, cover and carry on.” These basic steps can help save your life in the event of an earthquake. I hope you participated in this year’s Shakeout, but if not, visit www.shakeout.org to learn how you can keep yourself and your family safer in the event of an earthquake, and join us for next year’s event. If you don’t want to wait an entire year, you can join our friends in Utah, who are holding their annual Shakeout event in April.

Shakeout is a powerful opportunity to raise awareness of the threat posed by earthquakes. This year, I would like to challenge you to build on that awareness and take greater action. Knowing what to do when an earthquake strikes is important, but having a plan before an earthquake strikes can help you take steps to keep your home and family safer. This will make our communities and our entire nation more resilient.

Earthquake mitigation is not as complicated or expensive as it may seem. While seismic retrofits for large structures require the work of engineers and builders, there are many affordable and potentially life-saving steps that can be taken to strengthen the homes and buildings that protect you, your friends, and your family. Some of these measures are exactly the same things you would do to protect children from your home if you had young children.

You can attach water heaters to wall screws. This inexpensive step can reduce the chance of water and fire damage after an earthquake. Attaching tall furniture such as bookcases or cupboards and heavy electronics such as televisions to wall studs can help reduce the possibility of these items falling on a person. You should also ensure that you have adequate insurance coverage. In most cases, homeowner’s insurance does not cover earthquake damage. Consider consulting your insurance agent to see if additional earthquake coverage might be right for you.

As an interested member of the community, you can also talk to local officials to see if the building codes in your community are up to date. If you are remodeling a home, incorporate seismic building code improvements into the project. By making sure that new and reconstructed structures incorporate tried and proven building techniques, we make our communities safer.

Earthquakes are unique. They occur without warning, unlike many other natural hazards. Make sure you know what to do when this happens and take steps to minimize the potential impact. Act now, so when the next earthquake happens, you’ll be on solid ground.

Nancy Dragani is FEMA District 8 Administrator. Headquartered in Denver, she oversees FEMA activities in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and the 29 federally recognized tribal states located in these states.

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