Marshall Allen
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Seismologist Lucy Jones has helped La Canada
Flintridge take steps toward earthquake safety, and will now turn her eye
toward the state with her appointment to the Seismic Safety Commission.
The commission serves to improve earthquake safety measures in
California. As an independent voice, it advises a variety of agencies to
stimulate earthquake risk reduction and management. The commission
includes people representing many other fields dealing with earthquake
safety.
Jones, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey and also serves as its
spokesman, said the appointment is an honor.
"The commission is one of the most important structures we have for
actually making people safer in earthquakes," she said.
Jones has helped La Canada Unified schools take big steps toward
better earthquake preparedness, PTA Council Safety chairman Andrea Terry
said. When the two started working together on the Palm Crest Elementary
disaster preparedness committee in the early 1990s, the school only had
about 500 space blankets in its earthquake bin. Now, all La Canada
Unified schools are completely stocked with three days of food and water
for every student and staff member, Terry said.
Jones is more than just an expert who pores over earthquake data,
Terry said.
"She takes that information and turns it into solutions for public
safety," she said.
One important earthquake safety issue facing the commission is dealing
with unsafe buildings, Jones said. One of the biggest earthquake myths is
that we have good building codes, and therefore have good buildings, she
said.
"Building codes are not retroactive, and most of the buildings in L.A.
were not built to current codes," she said.
Figuring out what to do with trillions of dollars of dangerous
building stock is an important social issue, she said.
