Contact: Brian Lowe Tel: (800) 959-4053 Em: marketing@trevco.net

PREDICTED QUAKE PASSES BUT THREAT CONTINUES For Immediate Release San Diego, CA – (September 7, 2004) – Fortunately the deadline for the predicted earthquake in southern California has passed without incident, but it doesn’t mean that the community can ignore the threat of earthquakes. Sunday, September 5^th was the date by which a M6.4 or greater quake was predicted to strike somewhere within a 12,000 square mile radius of southern California. A team led by UCLA professor Vladimir Keilis-Borok made the prediction earlier this year. The same team correctly predicted the December 2003 San Simeon earthquake on the central Californian coast, as well as another temblor on the Japanese island of Hokkaido in September of last year. Despite the uneventful passing of the deadline, the community needs to remember that the threat of a major earthquake is real and ongoing, and that being prepared is the best defense against earthquakes. Scientists agree that southern California is overdue for a big one, and while it’s not known exactly when it might hit, none of us can afford to be nonchalant. The preparedness message that is repeatedly emphasized by the California Earthquake Authority, the Southern California Earthquake Center, and noted experts such as Dr Lucy Jones, USGS scientist-in-charge of earthquake programs, needs to be heeded. To ignore it is foolhardy. The fact of the matter is that when choosing to live in California, one also chooses to live in a seismically active region of the United States, so the prudent thing to do is to be prepared. Interior mitigation is a good place to start and there are simple, effective and affordable preventative measures that can be taken to secure household possessions. Flexible nylon safety straps for securing top-heavy furniture and removable and reusable adhesives to safeguard breakables are widely available at home improvement centers. Water heaters must be secured, it is mandatory to do so in the state of California when building new homes or selling existing dwellings, and automatic gas shutoff valves, and/or earthquake wrenches are sensible tools to install or have handy in the event of an earthquake so that gas lines can be quickly turned off. For more earthquake preparedness information and safety tips please visit www.earthquakeinfo.com