Leona Heights Neighborhood News

by Gordon Laverty

Leona Heights history is an exciting subject old trains, old hotels, quaint laundry farms, old mines, and the like but fortunately, since the 1880s, when building began in our area, there has been no serious, identifiable earthquake damage. That is due to our relatively quiet segment of the Hayward Fault compared to the City of Hayward locale. In 1868 that city's segment shook so hard that locomotives were overturned and serious building damage occurred. Our section of the fault creeps to the right laterally about one-quarter inch a year, which means that if you are looking across the fault, the opposite side moves to your right. That movement has helped release the strain in the soil to delay the occurrence of heavy and abrupt large earthquake movement. Some earthquake specialists believe that we are due for a large disruption within the next 25 years or so. As a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute myself, I do not know, but a prudent person would get prepared now for such an event of unknown timing. Since the major trace of the Hayward Fault follows almost precisely the center of Highway 580 in the Leona Heights area, it means that all our homes are only several hundred feet at best from the fault. And most of the ravines in our neighborhood are traces of right-angled cross faults off the main fault. So common sense dictates that our personal planning should include seriously considering earthquake insurance for our homes and a family plan involving optional actions before and after such an event. Before-actions obviously include having our home structure inspected to determine if it is adequately tied to the house foundation, with sway bracing adequate to avoid home collapse. Chimney bracing should be reviewed. And in clapboard-sided homes, adequate board-nailing review is a must. In after-earthquake inspections, I have seen many damaged homes which were under-nailed. A prior-to-quake family plan is a must. This involves agreeing where family members will check in with contacts outside the quake zone to indicate their safety. In the quake zone, it is usual for both land line and cell phone service to be disrupted. In-home storage of food and water for two weeks is a good idea. In several quakes, I have observed that people are afraid to sleep in their homes due to fear of aftershocks, so a backup plan for tents, or renting or borrowing a trailer from someone, could make sense. Depending on the severity of a quake or its specific impact in certain soil areas, resident evacuation could be ordered. Such activity would of course be controlled by local and state authorities, The Leona Heights Improvement Association will soon announce a series of information meetings on emergency subjects that you may wish to attend. Oh, the joy of living in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Region! But I wouldn't trade with anyone. Would you?