Earthquake Education to Create a Culture of Readiness and Resiliency

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

San Bernardino County, California is the geographically largest county in the United States, home to over 2 million residents. The County consistently leads the state in disseminating clear messaging of earthquake readiness to its far-flung populace. When a hypothetical magnitude 7.8 earthquake disaster scenario was announced in 2008, its attendant damages were projected to be devastating in San Bernardino County. Government officials immediately rose to the challenge to fill an information void and benefit all of the inhabitants of the County – arming citizens with science-based earthquake awareness information and providing reliable resources for earthquake preparedness. Authorized by the Board of Supervisors and the County Administrative office, County Fire and the Office of emergency Services provide emergency response information and training to citizens, an effort that couples with the San Bernardino County Museum’s science-based strategy to interpret the San Andreas Fault – easily the County’s most notorious geologic feature – year-round at numerous educational venues. Ongoing preparations to reveal geologic diversity fashioned by the San Andreas fault in the Museum’s hall of geological Wonders dovetail with the County’s call to action and its plans for the Museum to be California’s most innovative permanent venue for earthquake science education.