Annual Meeting - SCEC.org

Report | Communication, Education, and Outreach
anniversary of March 2011 devastating earthquake and tsunami. ShakeOut is changing the way people and organizations are
approaching the problems of earthquake preparedness.
The ShakeOut has been the focus of significant media attention and has gone a long way to encourage dialogue about
earthquake preparedness in California. Through the ShakeOut, the ECA does more than simply inform Californians about
their earthquake risk. The ShakeOut teaches people a life-saving response behavior while fostering a sense of community that
facilitates further dialogue and preparedness, and as such is an effective structure for advocacy of earthquake preparedness
and mitigation.
Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country. In 1995 SCEC, the USGS, and a large group of partners led by Lucy Jones
(USGS) developed and distributed 2 million copies of a 32-page color handbook on earthquake science, mitigation and
preparedness. Funding was primarily from the National Science Foundation and USGS. The booklet was distributed through
libraries, preparedness partners, cities, companies, and directly to individuals through SCEC.
The creation of the Earthquake Country Alliance in 2003 was concurrent with the desire to update
Putting Down Roots in advance of the 10th anniversary of the Northridge earthquake. The process
brought the ECA together to develop consensus messaging and notably introduced the “Seven Steps
to Earthquake Safety,” which has become a standard approach to organizing earthquake
preparedness messaging. Since 2004, the booklet has undergone six additional revisions and
printings. The Fall, 2008, version included the ShakeOut Scenario and an overview of the Uniform
California Earthquake Rupture Forecast study led by SCEC. The April, 2011, version includes new
tsunami science and preparedness content.
Putting Down Roots has been widely distributed through newspaper inserts, museums, schools, at
events organized by SCEC and ECA partners, and via an online order form. Over 2.5 million copies
have been distributed since 2004, and an additional 1.25 million copies in Spanish have been distributed. Printing and
distribution of the booklet was made possible by generous support of the California Earthquake Authority and additional
funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the USGS. The handbook is available at
www.earthquakecountry.info/roots as an online version and downloadable PDF, and printed copies can be ordered for free
through an online request form.
Putting Down Roots is the principal SCEC framework for providing earthquake science, mitigation, and preparedness
information to the public. The “Roots” framework extends beyond the distribution of a printed brochure and the online
version. For example, the Birch Aquarium in San Diego developed an earthquake exhibit that featured a “Seven Steps” display,
similar to SCEC’s “ShakeZone” exhibit at the Fingerprints Youth Museum in Hemet, CA. The Emergency Survival Program
(managed by LA County) based its 2006 and 2009 campaigns around the “Seven Steps.”
The new version of Putting Down Roots was designed to allow other regions to adopt and adapt its structure
to create additional versions. The first is a Greater San Francisco Bay Area version produced by a
partnership led by the USGS with SCEC, local and state emergency managers, the Red Cross and
many other organizations. Over 2.3 million copies have been printed, many distributed in
newspapers, with funding from the California Earthquake Authority, USGS, FEMA, Red Cross,
OES, CGS, and several others). In addition, a new booklet, Protecting Your Family From
Earthquakes–The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety, was produced in 2006 as part of the Putting
Down Roots series, in two versions - English and Spanish in one booklet, and English, Chinese,
Korean, and Vietnamese in another booklet. All Bay Area booklets can also be accessed from
www.earthquakecountry.info/roots. All printings of the Bay Area version to date have been coordinated
through SCEC.
Other versions have also been produced, and can be downloaded from the Roots website:
• The Utah Seismic Safety Commission in 2008 produced the first version of Putting Down Roots outside of California,
which in turn was adapted in 2010 by the State of Idaho for their version of Putting Down Roots.1Also in 2010, the
USGS developed a1Central United States version in time for the New Madrid Bicentennial.
34 | Southern California Earthquake Center