Is The Ring of Fire Preparing To Shake Us Apart?

It may seem that earthquakes around the world are getting worse. The real truth just might be that our exposure is increasing. As the population increases so does the quotient of disaster to human life and property. I remember in grade school a teacher saying that world population was a little over two billion, half of that was in Asia. Now we are over seven billion and growing, grouping together in danger zones.

Ever since the super continent Gondwana began to breakup, our great tectonic plates worldwide have been bumping into and shoving one another around like giant sumo wrestlers. Beginning with the 9.1 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in 2004, followed by the 8.8 shaker in Chile in February 2010, the latest in this string of large earthquakes, most certainly is, the March 11 Tohoku event, registering at a magnitude of 9.0. When these wrestling bouts move the ground against our infrastructure, we humans will always be on the losing end.

California is located in an earthquake type of danger zone. Please prepare for a big one. Store five and ten dollar bills, some water, and get your house properly bolted.

HOW BIG WILL THE BIG ONE BE?

Scientists have recently claimed that a strike slip fault couldn’t generate higher than 7.9 magnitude quake.
A very recent strike slip fault off the coast of Sumatra generated an 8.6 event. The San Andreas Fault zone is also a strike slip, we better be thinking how big it could possibly be.

Most geologists insist that we are in a normal cycle of earthquake events. Current media coverage makes us much more aware than years past. Undoubtedly our scientists will keep on insisting that we are in a normal sequence of earthquake activity. It seems to some of us that they have a big surprise coming.

True, we can’t control earthquakes, but we should take charge of our environment. Make sure your home is properly bolted and earthquake ready, store water, and make plans. You may not know when or where the next earthquake will happen, but you can make sure you are much safer when it does.

Many of the issues that homeowners associate with failing foundations; such as re-appearing cracks in the walls and sticking doors or windows, are not always structural red flags. Many times these minor cracks appear as a result of sonic booms, high wind loads on the roof or even an earthquake. Repairing a crack that seems to be growing continuously and has reached more than ¼” wide might be an indication that you should have us inspect for casual factors. Doors that bind and changes in window margins can also be indications of differential settlement and should be inspected before shaving or replacing. Oftentimes there is undue concern over cracks in a foundation, especially if the foundation cracks are not associated with cracks in wall surfaces or binding doors.
When you pay attention to these warning signs, you will save yourself the hassle down the road.

We are experts at foundation crack analysis and most often no structural repair is indicated. Don’t let unscrupulous contractors frighten you into paying for unnecessary foundation repairs. Our comprehensive consultation will help pinpoint any structural problems. Our expertise offer a no nonsens disclosure neither exagerating nor diminishing our findings. We arrive on time, and fully inspect your property. Our representative does a complete inspection going underneath the structure (except for slab foundations) to check for items that need improvement to make your home earthquake ready.
there is no time like today take action ensuring that your earthquake hazard modifications to your home are actually complete. A natural disaster like an Earthquake will pose a significant threat to your loved ones, as well as one of the biggest assets you own, your home. Here in Southern California great strides have been made in designing stronger building practices to keep people safe. In particular, homes built prior to 1940 can benefit tremendously from Earthquake reinforcement repairs and improvements. Terms for these types of upgrades include….House and Chimney bolting…cripple wall bracing…..and we are here to help you understand the whole process, as well as the benefits.
Get Started Today
Call us at 626-791-2300. We do charge a minimal fee for our expertise and we will never recommend work that is not necessary to strengthen or repair your foundation or perform earthquake retrofitting. That has been our policy for more than 57 years. Our inspection fee is credited back to you should you elect to have us complete the work for you. You can be assured that our recommendations are un-biased. A Seismic Safety analysis and recommendation will give you a true roadmap for ensuring the safety and longevity of your home.

SPECIAL ALERT: SET YOUR DVR TO THE DO IT YOURSELF NETWORK ON MARCH 30th. As Seismic Safety, Inc contributes our professional expertise for homeowners to the Do It Yourself Network’s upcoming Last House Standing” program which premieres on Friday, March 30 at 11 p.m. ET, 8:00 pm PST Charter #140 Directv #230 Time Warner #172.  Bonnie Schneider, will illustrate how powerful Mother Nature can be in “Last House Standing” taking extreme weather and its effects on homes to a whole new level. Host Kayleen McCabe (“Rescue Renovation”) talks with experts around the country who construct the sturdiest homes and advises homeowners on how to make their homes stronger prior to earthquakes.

We here at Seismic Safety are in the business of helping home owners make an informed decision by providing the best information we can about foundation retrofitting services and about earthquake safety. We are glad that we are getting read and our posts are getting noticed, nevertheless we will not tolerate any one promoting their own website on our “Blog” so to put it simply please do not do it. And if we find it done we wont delete your comment, we will remove your website information and use your commentary anyways or edit it to our liking… So please play fair… Thank you…

Administrator

I have more than 57 contractual years of experience in residential retrofit. I am proud of the work our company does and feel it genuinely will be of a great benefit toward earthquake survival.

I have growing fears that after a future earthquake the evening headline news might be “residential earthquake retrofit does not work”

We have inspected work performed by a variety of retrofit contractors in the greater Los Angeles area. Some have promised permit and not even applied for one. They collected final payment for incomplete work. Others have taken permit but failed to provide required structural elements in many critical areas some distance from the crawl space entry. We have extracted many loose anchors, with our bare finger tips, from their positions in the concrete foundation. Wood members were split because the bolts were not piloted first. Improper blocking and nailing for cripple wall bracing. All of these conditions are in peril of failure during a credible earthquake.

We have personally witnessed a city building inspector shine his flashlight at a crawl space vent screen then ring the door bell telling the home owner “I have looked under your house all I need now is to see your interior smoke detectors.” Then sign off the permit inspection card.
Besides wanting to give our customers the best protection we can, we primarily want to preserve our reputation of being the very best. An office staff member will always re-inspect our own crews work before asking for city approval.

There are a multitude of reasons an unscrupulous contractor might use to convince you the home owner that getting a permit really isn’t in their best interest, this list includes a few of those excuses.
1. “We do great work and the city inspectors don’t really inspect anyway, save that cost and put your money into the better work that we do”.
2. “You have other code violations here that a building inspector will flag and cost you a ton of more money to fix that it is even worth.”
a. You have a converted garage or illegal addition
b. Your electrical system is overloaded you will need a new meter.
c. You have an improper side yard clearance.

Some communities do in fact have a few building officials that will enjoy flexing a bit of authorative muscle. Some other cities like San Marino and Santa Monica encourage the home owner to get permit by offering free of charge permits. These citys feel in the event of an earthquake emergency their first responder’s load will be lightened by their efforts to encourage home owners to perform earthquake retrofitting, thereby expanding the city’s effective resources for emergency response.

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Thank you..

Administrator

You have a wrench chained to your gas meter just in case an earthquake ruptures one of your gas lines. Might I ask, would the handle of that wrench reach your vacation spot in Hawaii or Las Vegas?

Envision this; your granddaughter Emily has spent the night. It is 3:30 am; a sharp jolt from an earthquake jams your bedroom door. A dresser topples over in front of the jammed door. You can’t budge the dresser let alone open the door. Now you can hear Emily crying on the other side of the blocked door, “Grandpa – glass!, my feet hurt, there’s blood!” Again, the door is jammed and now you smell – GAS! What good is that wrench now?

It seems that most Southern Californian’s have become a bit apathetic about earthquake retrofitting for their existing homes. You might think that Sylmar and Northridge were big ones, maybe your home survived those. Actually those quakes are considered strong at best by seismologists and only moderate by many. Researchers at the Southern California Earthquake Center said there is an 80% to 90% chance that a temblor of 7.0 or greater magnitude “the big one” will strike Southern California before 2024. That gives you twelve years to start your preparation right? I think this warning also carries a threat of it might even be next month or sooner.

Maybe some of the freeways won’t be impassible. Among other things I can imagine broken glass lying three feet deep in some downtown streets making it impassable to get to an onramp. More importantly many homes will be off of their foundations with broken gas lines spewing flames in undesirable directions. A retrofitted residence could spare you a bit of wrath from California’s coming Katrina.

Other than the scientific prophesies of the coming “BIG ONE”, what do you think will jolt your fellow Californians out of their apathy, off of their couches, and forward with an approved retrofit?