Malibu City Council will begin its year-long Earthquake Resiliency Initiative with its meeting next Wednesday, Jan. 10. Dr. Lucy Jones, an expert on earthquakes, will be giving a presentation on Malibu-specific tips to prepare for future earthquake risks.
“Malibu is squarely in the middle of earthquake country, and we know that it is not a matter of if, but when, the ‘Big One’ will strike,” Mayor Skylar Peak said in a statement from the city.
The goal of the initiative is to “increase the community’s resiliency, or ability to respond and recover, to a large earthquake” in hopes that this will lead to a reduced risky outcome. The city will also be taking action, including creating an inventory of “soft-story buildings” and devising incentives for property owners to improve seismic safety for their properties.
Malibu will also be hosting Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, starting Jan. 11. Visit malibucity.org/CERT or contact Susan Dueñas, the city’s public safety manager, at sduenas@malibucity.org.
In 2017, the Southern California Association of Governments and Dr. Jones’ Center for Science and Society (founded by Dr. Jones) invited Malibu to join the Southern California Earthquake Preparedness Initiative. By joining the initiative, the city is provided technical assistance and strategy to prepare individual communities for earthquakes.