California Earthquake Authority and American Red Cross Join Forces to Get Californians Prepared with Support of Online Auction

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and the American Red Cross have joined forces to help more people prepare to survive and recover from California’s next damaging earthquake, and to support a unique online auction that benefits local Red Cross preparedness and response programs.

April 4th marks the opening of this new statewide auction to support the American Red Cross – managed by Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, and promoted through the CEA’s earthquake preparedness campaign. From April 4 through April 27, Californians will have an opportunity to bid on 28 unique auction items including a Paris flyaway to see Coldplay, and a celebrity-escorted visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Every dollar donated through the auction will support American Red Cross preparedness and response programs in California. Auction details are available at www.GetPreparedCalifornia.org.

“Working with Red Cross to join forces has been exciting, said CEA CEO Glenn Pomeroy. “We all know the Red Cross for its compassionate outreach in our own communities. By adding this new auction to CEA’s statewide media campaign, we hope to motivate more Californians to make earthquake preparedness a priority.”

To accomplish this goal, expertise from the American Red Cross on preparing a kit, making a family disaster plan, and being informed, has been combined with CEA’s residential-insurance expertise and loss-mitigation knowledge to promote a comprehensive preparedness plan for California residents.

This joint preparedness effort by the CEA and the Red Cross was partially prompted by a UCLA School of Public Health and Survey Research Center study that reported in 2010 that “relatively few (California) households have acted to mitigate losses and reduce injuries” resulting from earthquakes.

California has about two-thirds of the nation’s earthquake risk. Some 2,000 known faults crisscross the state, producing an average of 102 earthquakes a day – more than 37,000 a year.

According to the 2010 State of California Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, strong earthquakes of Magnitude 6 to 6.9 strike California an average of once every two to three years. An earthquake this size can cause major damage if the epicenter is near a densely populated area. The 1994 Northridge earthquake (magnitude 6.7) caused more than $40 billion in disaster losses, 57 deaths, and 11,846 injuries.

“Working with the CEA to help more people learn how to take care of their families and neighbors will make our communities more resilient to damaging earthquakes,” said American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter CEO Harold Brooks. “The Red Cross is eager to work with the CEA to further promote a culture of earthquake preparedness through education campaigns to motivate more residents to ready themselves for disasters.”