Santa Rosa quake shows importance of preparation, city’s emergency chief says
There was a moment Tuesday during the initial response to the earthquake that rattled the North Bay when Santa Rosa officials were split between two paths: An all-out response, including the activation of the city’s emergency operations center, or a more limited effort.
As reports came in of relatively little damage or injury resulting from the magnitude 4.4 shaker and a 4.3 magnitude aftershock, the city took a scaled back approach. (The city is required to activate its center following a magnitude 5 or greater earthquake or if there is reported damage from city departments.)
“The size of it put us in limbo for a second, understanding if this was a full-scale response or not,” Emergency Preparedness Manager Neil Bregman recounted Wednesday.
The temblor struck about 2 miles northeast of downtown Santa Rosa at 6:39 p.m. in an area just west of Parker Hill Road and north of Chanate Road. The 4.3 magnitude aftershock struck 42 seconds later about a mile away on the east side of Parker Hill, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The activity occurred on the Rodgers Creek fault, part of the San Andreas system, that runs through eastern Santa Rosa.
Bregman, who has been touting earthquake preparedness for years, even in the aftermath of the 2017 North Bay fires and subsequent blazes, said the earthquake should serve as a wake up call for residents and government officials that they need to be prepared for a more significant event in the future.
“We didn’t have the big earthquake but this was a large enough shaker to wake people up,” he said. “It created an opportunity to have conversations with the public, internally and with government partners to evaluate our earthquake plans, which can help uncover gaps and ways we can improve.”
On Tuesday, emergency officials answered a flood of 911 calls in the immediate aftermath as the city dispatched public works employees to assess possible damage to city facilities, impacts to essential services and city infrastructure.
Bregman and emergency officials from other jurisdictions across Sonoma County quickly jumped on a phone call to discuss any issues across the region. The quake’s strongest effects appeared to be concentrated in Santa Rosa, which also contributed to the smaller response, he said.
Cross-jurisdiction communication during an emergency is vital to determining how to best respond to an emergency, a lesson learned after the 2017 fires.
“As a community, as a countywide government, we didn’t have a formal way of talking to each other and communicating the big picture for the region,” Bregman said of prior procedures. Now the group hosts weekly operational calls and activates the phone line during heat ways, floods and other emergencies to more quickly direct resources to where they’re needed most.
Santa Rosa officials have been working to update city earthquake plans and procedures over the last year, he said.
The city recently revised its emergency operations plan, including a 13-page manual on how to respond to earthquakes, as part of a regular review that occurs every five years. Residents can weigh in on the proposed plan during a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The city is developing a damage assessment software that would allow public works employees and other workers in the field to take photos of damage and upload it to the system with location and notes. That will help the city more quickly determine where there are problems and send assistance, Bregman said.
His team is also working with public works on conducting a simulated earthquake drill to practice how to dispatch workers and address repairs and how to handle a system overwhelmed by emergency calls and staff reports.
Bregman said the city is prepared to respond to a large earthquake but there is room for improvement.
“The plans are in place today for whatever sized earthquake but this is an opportunity to hone that and get the public prepared,” he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.
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