they lie in wait, preparing to strike. they are the many earthquake faults including this one. the one i'm standing on, the grand daddy of them all, the san andreus. it was first documented over a century ago and named after this lake, lake san anders. it's an 800-mile long fault

that released the energy of 400 hiroshima type bombs. this and the seven other main faults, hayward, concord, calav era s, greenville, rogers cream, san gregorio and san and era s thrust generate a lot of quakes. there are many other faults, all lying in wait, all presenting a hazard to every corner of the bay area. the question is are we prepared? many if not all of the bay area folks we've met throughout the year say they are not prepared for the big quake or any quake. >> like an ostrich. i just as soon as not think about it but i know i should, because it's coming. >> mentally, no. i've had earthquakes in the past. >> no i'm not prepared. >> i don't have an earthquake

kit at home i should though. >> reporter: the study just released from columbia university center found most americans did not have an emergency kit. even at time when the government is cutting back, 1/3 said it expects a mike expects a -- a jacket would take about an hour. it's home to hundreds and thousands of people and what people believe be the next quake. president roosevelt once said, all we have to fear is fear

áeut. rita wait a minute, - - fear itself. rita wait a -- rita williams has the story. >> reporter: they ran into burning buildings. >> i know i can handle it. i kind of faced the devil. >> reporter: that devil was an apartment fire five years earlier that burned 40% of his body. the thought is to fear and respect fires and earthquakes. >> if you're so concerned that you're not moving that concerns me. >> people so sick because of anxiety they can't function, they have others to help. >> i'm a little bit afraid,

right. you have to do that moving forward. but what you do do is you normalize it and you prepare and that brings the power back to you. >> reporter: that's just what marina registration at the present times and san francisco neighborhood goldstein and his wife has done. prepare as much as they can. admitting that they were not prepared in 1989. >> and it was swinging in an arch, i would say of about 30 degrees. >> more and more communities recognizing that emergency help may not be immediately

available are training residents to form their own response regimen. the screens are not from actors but from volunteers. >> not breathing. >> reporter: who are training san francisco residents to join their ranks as n .e.r.t.s. >> we want a n.e.t.r. trained on every block. >> reporter: in two days of training volunteers learn how to turn off natural gas and other skills useful after an earthquake. it's trainee emily gallagher's first pull on a fire extinguisher. >> it was a lot easier than i thought it would be. there was not a lot of pressure, it was pretty easy. >> reporter: n.e.r.t.

was started to assist themselves and overwhelmed responders. >> one thing kwráur -- you're going to experience is ready at arrival. >> this is called the cribbing drill and the intent is you can use a lever and hilcrum and potentially lift thousands of pounds. the first benefit of n.e.r.t. is a prepared citizen. >> i just feel like i have a plan. >> a plan to help her family, her neighbors and her city. the bay area has thousands of earthquakes every year. most you never feel but four do stand out. the 198th lo ma prieta quake.

a century earlier the san andreus was hit with a big fbi. the usgs predicts a 52% probability of a 6.7 or larger bay area quake by 1932. can you taoulties affect probation and a lesson from past disaster about tests. [ female announcer ] help i need a holiday party idea.

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in 1811 a 17.7 earthquake struck on the missouri fault felt all over the eastern u.s. another 7.7 occurred on the new madrid fault a year later.

a 7.8 hit southern california's sparsely populated empelia valley 80 years later. the most destructive bauds it hit the city a 7.8 great san francisco earthquake in 1906 ranks only third. in 1857 a 7.9 rocked sparsely populated port cajon. the biggest quake in the lower 48 in 1700, a 19 richter scale quake -- we want to feel safe, you

know so this building is protected against earthquakes, it's great for us. especially for our baby. >> reporter: the mounts live in an older so called soft building. the building's bottom floor was scraped off to create parking. at about $12,000 per garage the mounts say it was affordable. >> it's working with existing buildings knowing how they were constructed initially and how best they can be presented. california adopted

international standards designed to help homeowners designed to teach them how to do their job. the hope is when the big one hits more homes will be left standing and huher -- and fewer people will remain homeless. i wanted to have some protection in case of an earthquake. >> reporter: contractors put new bolts, braces and framing to keep the top floor attached to the foundation. >> what this does is this is the vulnerable of the charge. if you take care of this you

have addressed a major -- >> if something happens to us we can figure out a way to deal with it. but if something happens to her, it'll be harder to deal with. >> reporter: what's critical for people is also critical for our gas system. >> before loma prieta we were completely unprepared. >> reporter: but says david schwartz loma prieta sent a wave of improvements that continues to this day. it pwáe began with caltrans as well as -- it began with

caltrans as well as -- a job still with a long way to go. this to avoid a repeat of broken lines caused many fires most notably in san francisco's marina different. what do the postmost used around the bay area. >> they can bend and. >> reporter: pg & e is installing hundreds of remote control and shut off pipes on that big fault. >> we're going to place them in more densely populated areas. >> wind forces generate bigger forces on tours.

>> anything that is not new is vetted. >> we shake them to earthquake records. we can replicate the earthquake as much as we want. those products have survived our shape table test, goes into our staff and that's what's in the new equipment. but great quakes are unpredictable. >> we tell want customers to be aware some damage there? -z and coming up next, protecting from earthquakes.

the world's biggest known magnitude quakes are truly giants. russia's peninsula suffered a massive massive 9.0. earlier this year, japan was

hit by a 9.0. in 1964 a 9.1 hit prince william sound. the biggest? a 9.5 hit chile in 1950. >> i heard a it shows that 90% of people are pet owners, thety saásers not only make people homeless they also make homeless. huh incane tr shay is that resulted in missing pets. tragedy on top of disaster. vet technician gloria jake offered the help. >> people came through the shelter looking for their

animals. >> reporter: tragedy on top of tragedy. >> and there's a lot of people who didn't have a place to take their animals so they weren't even coming to the shelter and isling them. >> many countries have plans and volunteers. >> what will be doing is setting up an original homeowners. >> but you're pet needs a good idea d tag. >> -- good i.d. tabs. >> it should have your address, tpourpl none,. >> huh mall shelter perm feint of temporary set up in the tráebgss we'll have scanner devices that will have your contact informs. >> finally a photo.

having a picture so that you can postthem in a cemetery shelter. >> we've got a whole kit ready to go, backpack filled. i have water and foot. foot p-r the dogs. >> we have record, in case we need to put her in a tkeur tempted. >> this it's the loss of a pet to make the aftermath of an earthquake much ph-fp tougher to deal with. that's just one aftermath issue that will determine emotionally how well and how quickly you recover. here's gasia mikaelian. >> it is something that's on my mind because of the anniversary

of the earthquake. and at the loma prieta earthquake and the earthquakes that have been happening all over the world. i figure our time is coming back. >> earthquake has messed with everyone's mind. the biggest issue for us is the lack of warning. >> reporter: cynthia speaks for the red cross. >> for people it could be days to months and years. >> it's a total disaster after earthquake they're not the same. once you survive it you will have a lot more problems to go through. >> during the response time, the faa has changed the recommendation that you have threeive i'm looking at more from five to seven days. >> most victims to go to a free

safe project. >> there are the tpáeur sreus where -- there are the first steps, then you have the honey moon stage. but that disillusion, that this is going to be like this for a while. >> reporter: they have personnel to provide the most important aid, piece of mind. >> to talk about the potentiallies that are protected. to help them greed as well as the resources on how to redent. expect it will happen to you and be as prepared as you can. there's a major quake or otherdisaster. >> after disaster car max it

refuses for a while. >> one of the fewty signer fats on military gain.

this is meteorologist rosemary orozco we're usually asked if there's such a thing to earthquake leather. opinion is lopsided. >> 94 earthquake, it was a beautiful summer day. loma prieta another beautiful sunny day. >> came and unusually warm when it should be cold. it seems there's an ease reu feeling vehicle it's kind of an overcad day the that -- it's

kind of an over. >> reporter: for scientists and meteorologists there's no doubt. >> an earthquake can happen any time of the day, any time in the season whether it's wet, whether it's dry. there is no earthquake weather. >> reporter: it would save untold lives, property and fear if we could predict in advance if only for a few seconds the onset of an earthquake here in the san andreus or any other fault. the question is where are we in that effort, john fowler has the story. >> reporter: by blanketing the earth by senators you have an earth quake where the earth could start. >> reporter: it's free, the network will detain shaking and

will alert the public. >> gives them between saoáer roan -- >> >> i would like to know if we're in a high risk time period in the order of 24, 48 hours because i would live my life differently. >> quake finder installed 85 sensor. >> locks that are almost ready to play generates electrical cig signal. >> days before the railroad

elen that pan. this was this unique signature. >> coming in about two weeks. referee: jaker finder goes to quake hot line. $5million and five years could prove early morning works. if we saved one life it would be potentially great. but we may save thousands of. people. that's the latest we have on the great quake that is surely coming and is currently lying in weight. because in earthquake country, the earthquake thanks for watching.