Earthquakes have always been a big problem in California; it’s one of the things the state is known for, and as of recently, residents have felt an abnormal number of earthquakes within a small period of time, specifically in Berkeley. The last major earthquake in the Bay Area was the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17th, 1989. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake that killed 63 people and injured 3,800 others. By studying the history of geological records, scientists have predicted that a large-scale magnitude earthquake is going to hit the Bay Area within the next few decades. Students at Berkeley High have recently been trained in a procedure of what to do if and when a big earthquake were to occur. Students were told to drop beneath our desks and cover our heads and necks. Ella Salgado, a sophomore in AC, expressed her opinion on the safety of residents living in Berkeley. “I feel like our schools do like the earthquake safety every year, and a lot of the buildings in Berkeley are retrofitted”.
Frequent earthquake activity can be credited to a big fault line called the Hayward Fault, the line passes straight through Memorial Stadium and the entire Cal campus. As of recently, there have been many earthquakes shaking the Bay Area; the fault is a particularly active one, and there's so much stress on the tectonic plates that they continue to release pressure and shake the area. On the morning of September 22nd, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake centered east of Southeast Berkeley shook the city. Most high schoolers at Berkeley High who have lived in Berkeley for their entire lives hadn’t felt an earthquake of this magnitude before. Ava Apelin, a BIHS 10th grader, expressed how the earthquake affected her: “As the earthquakes keep on happening, I've been getting a little more concerned about my safety, but because of, like, the safety drills that we do in school, I become, like, less worried about them, but it's still on my mind sometimes. Also, my neighborhood was affected, I mean, yeah, I'm pretty sure that a power line went down around my neighborhood. It didn't affect my house, but I know that it stopped the power in a few other houses.”
Experts say that if you happen to be outdoors, move to an open area, away from trees, power lines, and buildings. If you are inside, hold onto something sturdy, go under a door frame, and make sure to stay away from windows. If you are in a vehicle, pull over to a safe location and stop. Stay inside the vehicle until the shaking stops, and avoid being on bridges, overpasses, or near power lines. After experiencing an earthquake, be prepared for aftershocks, be prepared to evacuate, and if you live in an area where earthquakes happen frequently, you should have water, batteries, and flashlights stored somewhere safe.
Siobhan Lewis, a student in AC, spoke about the precautions her family takes to make sure that they stay safe in the event of an earthquake. “My family has an earthquake shelf in our basement, and I have all my shelves are away from my bed, so and we do school training, so I think I'm good”.