Preperation is key when earthquake hits

Bill Erin

Friday, Aug. 29, 2008 | 4:04 p.m.

As a result of my most recent column on earthquake preparedness in Boulder City, I was steered to city building official Ron Nybo, whose office is on the first floor of City Hall in the Boulder City Building Department.

The location is important, because if you have any feeling of responsibility toward your family, you will want to go there to get a copy of the free "Earthquake Preparedness Kit" they will give you. It is the most complete such booklet I have seen.

Prepared by the International Code Council, it has not only the usual lists as to supplies you should have on hand, the hazards you might encounter and steps you should take to prepare, but it also has excellent detail, photos, diagrams and examples for preparing your home to resist seismic activity and provide a safer environment.

It provides instructions and diagrams for structural improvements, detailed instructions and diagrams for securing nonstructural items like bookcases, cabinets and drawers, windows and doors, heavy objects such as computers and TV sets, large appliances, water heaters and many more items in the average home that can topple or become flying hazards in an earthquake.

For example, who would think of locking the rollers of large appliances, such as your refrigerator? You probably roll it out regularly to clean behind it, but did you think how much damage it could do if it freely rolled out across the floor during an earthquake?

All of these things, major and minor, could become deadly to anyone caught in the room with them during a major seismic shake. You won't go wrong getting this free booklet from the Building Department in City Hall.

It's also available on the city's Web site, www.bcnv.org. Click on "Community Development" and follow the links.

Nybo pointed out that Nevada is one of the three most active seismic states, along with California and Alaska.

"They have a lot of earthquakes in Alaska," he said.

Just like Nevada, however, Alaska has great stretches of open country where, fortunately, there is sparse population.

Since 1900, there have been 10 earthquakes in Nevada registering 5.9 or better on the seismograph, including a 7.6 in 1915. On May 24, 1952, there was a 5.0 shaker in the Lake Mead area near Boulder City that was not only felt here, but caused some damage.

On Aug. 19, the day I was talking to Nybo, there was a quake of 1.6 magnitude at 2:37 a.m. just 16 miles northeast of Nellis Air Force Base.

"On Aug. 8, just a few days ago," Nybo said, "there was a 1.4 registered in the vicinity of the old Lake Mead parking lot down where the Southern Nevada Water Authority intake pipe is located."

Nybo pointed out there are constant such small earth adjustments in Nevada, any one of which could be the precursor of a more violent adjustment that could cause major damage in Boulder City.

The current city code, according to Nybo, ensures that homes being built today in Boulder City will probably survive even a major shake. However, 75 to 80 percent of Boulder City homes were built before the current code.

"I want it clearly understood," Nybo said, "that we are being proactive. We don't have our heads in the sand. We have a Disaster Response Team headed up by Fire Chief Kevin Nicholson. In that plan, evaluating the condition of the buildings is the Building Departments' responsibility."

Nybo said in case of a severe quake, the damage might be so widespread that officials would need help from outside the area such as Kingman and Lake Havasu.

It could be up to 72 hours before assistance reaches you. How well you are prepared will determine how well you and yours survive.

Bill Erin is a Boulder City News columnist.