Southern California just got a little safer when it comes to earthquake preparedness. Along with FEMA, the California Emergency Management Agency today launched a new plan to help respond and recover from an earthquake.

It was a long time coming, Southern California Catastrophic Earthquake Plan (CATPLAN) is now a reality.

When participants began the planning almost two years ago, rather than planning for a manageable event, the focus instead was on addressing the highest, most critical and widespread consequences of mass casualties, tremendous shelter and housing needs, infrastructure calamity and enormous economic disruption.  By facing the “unthinkable,” what has been developed is a realistic, flexible and scalable CATPLAN.

“We know that it’s not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ the next big earthquake is going to shake California to its core,” said Bettenhausen. “Our number one priority is to ensure we’re doing everything we can to be ready for it, and have a carefully-crafted, comprehensive plan in place to enable maximum coordination between federal, state and local agencies.

buy azithromycin online rxbio.com/images/milestones/jpg/azithromycin.html no prescription pharmacy

  This plan is not the end, but another critical step in our on-going process of planning.”

The similar San Francisco Bay Area Catastrophic Earthquake Plan was formalized in 2008, so along with the new plan, the bulk of the state now has another layer of security.

All Californians should take some solace in that — although us on the East Coast will still question the sanity of those of you who build your houses above fault lines.