Los Angeles: An Area of Multiple Hazards.

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Luke Ashworth

Los Angeles: An Area of Multiple Hazards.

Los Angeles is a large city with a population of over 13 million people. It is situated in the U.S. state of California, on the western pacific coast of the United States.

Los Angeles is well known for being earthquake prone. Past events in the historical records have shown many medium earthquakes in the area and a number of large earthquakes such as 1906 earthquake in San Francisco also situated in California. Various geological surveys funded by the government have shown that Los Angeles is situated on the Santa Monica Fault line and close to the San Andreas Fault. A major earthquake can be expected on average every 100 years. The effects of an earthquake are varied. The 1994 earthquake (registering 6.7 on the Richter scale) killed over 60 people through explosions from broken gas pipes, landslides, and the collapse of apartment blocks, houses and highways. People became trapped in high rise buildings as power lines were brought down, and over 500,000 houses were left without power. The attitude of people living in Los Angeles is one of indifference to the threat and that it will not affect them in their lifetime. At a local level there is no will to pay for the improvements required as raising taxes would be political suicide. This is often the case when it comes to dealing with the local city authorities and city mayor.

The response to the earthquake threat has been varied. Large companies sited in the centre of the city have generally found the money to make high rise buildings that can resist the movements and vibrations created by the earthquake. All new high rise buildings are also now resistant. The city government has a number of systems in place to try and cope with the police, fire and health problems created by a large earthquake, and have drawn up action plans. Many public highways have also had to be strengthened or modified. They have also had to fund these projects. The media is responsible for information during the earthquakes as it was in 1994, giving advise and have also drawn up similar action plans on how to cope with the earthquake and keep broadcasting. The gas, water and electricity companies have put in place a number of high tech measures to try and reduce the damage to their supplies in an earthquake but these have been at quite some expense to the consumer.

Los Angeles, according to the meteorological office, has a Mediterranean type climate. It has a yearly drought and closely associated problem with brush fires. The fire service department statistics could be used to show the yearly bush fire risk whilst weather records can be used to show the yearly drought. The attitude of most people is that there should be no limit to the amount of water used, and this attitude has been reflected in the response of the water companies, and the subsequent diverting of the majority of water from the Colorado river before it reaches the sea to supply the city with water. The growth in population is putting increasing pressure on the limited water supplies. A careless spark from a cigarette or match, or an electrical storm can start a brush fire during the late summer when the vegetation is very dry. Low density residential development in the hills has increased the fire risk, as they are built into the brush country, and many houses are destroyed every year by these fires. The response of the fire service has been to use high pressure water jets, to reduce the fire risk despite the extra demand this puts on the water supply. However more and more people want to live in these suburbs which has prevented the city government from halting this type of development.

Landslides and mudflows are a result of the interactions of many hazards. They can be caused by earthquakes, heavy rain, deforestation and fires, or over urbanisation. They can even be caused by water seepage from domestic supply and usage. The media is probably one of the most reliable forms of evidence for the landslides each year. Landslides and mudflows can destroy houses, as whole hillsides may collapse and if people are in the vicinity, the speed of the event may catch them unaware resulting in injury or even death.

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Most people feel that they have little control over the occurrence of landslides, the majority of the responsibility falls on the city government and building companies. It is rare for soil stabilisation to be carried out due to its expense, so mostly this is privately funded. The response of the city government has been to restrict development on steep slopes and other risky areas and have therefore carried out risk analysis of many areas.

Flooding is a hazard occurring in the winter especially during heavy rains and storms. Deforestation, brush fires and urbanisation have tended to exacerbate the problem by reducing ...

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