(May 27, 2010) — China, Haiti, Chile and Mexico all have been struck by earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.0 and higher. “Given the history of California’s Southern San Andreas Fault [in 1906], you’d expect a major earthquake every 100 years,” said Mary Lou Zoback, a geophysicist and vice president of earthquake risk applications at Risk Management Solutions, a company that specializes in catastrophe models for the insurance industry. “It’s been 300 years since the last big one there, so we give it a really high likelihood of going in the next 30 years,” she told Audubon magazine on March 1, 2010. With news of earthquakes all around the world, students and families are taking precautions for the disastrous earthquake predicted to hit California. “My family is ready for an earthquake—we have a first aid kit and bottles of water just in case of an earthquake,” said junior Kelly Mejia. At home, families can take precautions in case of an earthquake; but if there is an earthquake when they are at school, students are required to go under desks and follow the teacher’s instructions. However, there have been several cases in which the floors of buildings collapsed on top of each other. With cases like this, someone is bound to ask this question: How ready is Clark for a high-magnitude earthquake? Based on the Richter scale, earthquakes with magnitudes of about 5.0 and higher can cause damage to buildings. After devastation caused by several high-magnitude earthquakes, the United States revised its building codes. Buildings in California are required to follow the California Building Standards Code. The Division of the State Architect regulates the structures of community colleges, public schools, historical buildings and essential services buildings. Even Clark had to be refurnished to fit the building codes. “When Clark was re-built 12 years ago, all buildings were completely retrofitted to the codes at that time,” said teacher Randy Tiffany. “All were re-enforced with steel girders at certain stress points.” When a high-magnitude earthquake does hit California, Tiffany says that Clark is as ready as any school can be. “If an earthquake comes when I’m at school, I’m pretty sure all the teachers will know what to do,” Mejia said. Tiffany said that in case of an earthquake during school, the first thing people should do is to protect themselves from falling debris. Next, all the teachers have an assignment to follow in order to help the students safely evacuate the buildings. Teachers are also assigned duties once students are evacuated. Clark has an emergency kit ready for any injuries and teachers are prepared in first-aid and CPR. He also said that Clark has large containers of water that are checked regularly for purity. When an earthquake hits, students will be allowed to use their cell phones to contact their parents, and each student will be required to check out at the field before leaving campus to ensure everyone’s safety. “One of these days there will no doubt be a high-magnitude quake in Southern California, according to all experts in this field,” Tiffany said. Nobody knows when this earthquake will hit. Until that time comes, students need to remain calm and not panic in case of an earthquake, because as Tiffany said, the staff is as ready as it can be.