Yesterday’s news included an earthquake report that included two quakes that occurred seven seconds apart, one mile from El Cerrito, on the Hayward Fault. The Press Democrat stated that although these quakes were minor and short in duration, they were felt from Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz.

Many Californians might say, “So what? Earthquakes happen around the world every day!” True; but it seems that some are getting closer to Petaluma and Sonoma County and are happening on a fault that seismologists have predicted will have a major quake (6.0 mag. or larger) within the next 30 years. These “warnings” aren’t reported to scare you, but to “remind” you to Be Ready and to Be Prepared to cope with a major earthquake for 72 hours or longer. It’s not a question of IF such a quake will impact Petaluma, but WHEN?

It is just a coincidence, but this blogger started to post comments related to earthquakes and emergency preparedness six years ago, in March of 2006. During the five month period, March 21 through August 30, 2006, 15 disaster readiness blogs were published under various categories such as: Our Cyberplace, Then & Now, Our Petaluma, and Bill’s Blog. Then, on September 7, 2006, a new category was established and another 88 blogs have been posted on Petaluma 360 under the heading Emergency Preparedness. (They are all available for viewing, in the archives box to the right.)

The 106th anniversary of the famous 1906 San Francisco Earthquake is next month, April 18th. Stay tuned!